REESE  LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 

a. 


03 


IB 


BSB 


THE  REBELLION : 


ITS     CONSEQUENCES, 


AND     THE 


CONGEESSIONAL    COMMITTEE, 


DENOMINATED   THE 


BECOISTBUCTION  COMMITTEE, 

WITH  THEIR  ACTION. 


BY   INVESTIGATOR. 


NEW  ORLEANS:  „ 

COMMERCIAL  PRINT,  22  EXCHANGE  PLACE. 

1866. 


MR.  JACOB  BARKER  having  been  selected  to  represent 
New  Orleans,  the  second  commercial  city  in  the  United 
States,  his  opinions  will  be  read  with  interest ;  hence, 
these  pages*  will  be  confined  in  the  main  to  the  republica- 
tion  of  what  has  appeared  from  time  to  time  from  his 
pen,  and  of  harmonizing  opinions  from  the  pens  of  others. 


THE    REBELLION. 


Southern  efforts  to  establish  a  separate  Government 
having  failed,  its  advocates  have  submitted  in  good  faith, 
perfectly  convinced  of  the  ruinous  course  pursued  by 
leading  politicians,  which  has  entailed  on  them  the  pen 
alty  of  being  heavily  taxed  to  pay  the  enormous  debt 
created  to  controvert  their  efforts  ;  the  loss  of  all  their 
interest  in  slaves  ;  deprivation  forever  of  their  constitu 
tional  right  to  benefit  by  slave  labor  ;  the  loss  of  health, 
limb  and  life  ;  and,  finally,  in  most  cases,  reduced  from 
affluence  to  -insolvency  ;  to  all  of  which  they  submitted 
without  a  murmur.  And  while  the  victors  insist  that  the 
secession  ordinances  -were  nullities,  and  that  they  sacri 
ficed  billions  of  money  and  hundreds  of  thousands  of  lives 
to  preserve  the  Union,  that  we  are  out  of  it,  and  to  be 
taxed  without  representation  ;  and  yet  they  do  not  tell 
us  how  we  got  out,  or  what  is  the  value  of  their  victory 
if  they  failed  in  its  preservation. 

The  great  body  of  those  who  embarked  in  the  war  on 
the  Southern  side,  pariicularly  the  young  men,  believed 
they  had  a  right  to  defend  the  Southern  institutions ;  that 
the  North  designed  emancipation  in  violation  of  the  Con 
stitution.  Hence,  they  committed  no  moral  offence — 
motive  being  the  gist  of  all  crime.  However  unsound 
their  logic,  or  unwise  the  policy  resorted  to  for  maintain- 

227189 


4  THE   REBELLION: 

ing  what  they  considered  their  constitutional  rights,  the)' 
believed  that  they  were  exposing  their  lives,  their  health 
and  their  fortunes'  in  the  cause  of  patriotism. 

It  is  conceded  that  the  extreme  Abolitionists  of  the 
North  always  intended  to  bring  about  emancipation,  re 
gardless  of  the  provisions  of  the  Constitution,  while  the 
great  body  of  the  Union  party  had  no  such  design ;  and 
had  the  Southern  members  retained  their  seats  in  Con 
gress,  no  such  result  could  have  happened. 

Under  Mr.  Buchanan's  administration  there  was  a 
majority  of  thirty  against  the  South  in  the  House.  By 
the  co-operation  of  our  Northern  friends  such  a  revolu 
tion  had  been  produced  as  to  give  us  seven  majority  in 
the  House  which  came  into  power  with  Mr.  Lincoln,  and 
in  tne  Senate  we  continued  to  have  a  majority  of  friends ; 
hence,  we  had  the  power  of  defeating  every  adverse 
measure.  When  the  Southern  members  resigned,  resort 
ing  to  force,  they  threw  away  the  game.  Emancipation 
was  the  result  of  the  war — brought  about  to  prevent 
foreign  intervention,  and  the  supposed  necessity  for  the 
aid  of  colored  soldiers  in  crushing  out  the  rebellion. 

Mr.  Barker  has  ever  been  the  advocate  of  the  colored 
race  ;  he  has  fought  many  battles  for  them,  North  and 
South,  and  in  and  out  of  court,  without  fee  or  reward 
beyond  the  satisfaction  of  establishing  what  he  esteemed 
justice.  He  always  considered  making  human  beings 
property  by  the  Constitution  a  blemish  on  our  national 
escutcheon.  Yet,  it  being  there,  those  who  purchased  or 
inherited  slave  property  were  as  much  entitled  to  its  pro- 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  •"> 

:«m  as  the  ship-owners  of  Xew  England  were  to  tlie 
protection  of  their  property  in  ships.  The  evil  of  slavery 
could  only  be  cured  by  an  amendment  to  tlie  Constitu 
tion,  wnieli  has  been  done — one  of  the  effects  of  the  dis 
astrous  war — to  which  penalty  Southerners  submit  with 
becoming  grace  and  fortitude.  Mr.  Barker  would  not 
have  it  restored  if  he  could.  On  his  settling  in  Xew 
Orleans  in  1834,  finding  that  the  laws  of  Louisiana  pro 
hibited  the  education  as  well  as  the  emancipation  .of 
slaves,  and  believing  that  great  benefits  would  result  from 
their  being  educated,  he  purchased  and  sent  many  abroad 
to  be  emancipated  and  educated,  viz  :  Harry,  Adam, 
Oaledon,  Moses,  Nathaniel,  Sallie,  Anna,  Robert,  Polly 
and  Glaiborne — one  to  Liverpool,  who  was  refused  ad 
mittance  into  their  schools  on  account  of  his  black  skin  ; 
one  to  Washington,  D.  C.;  two  to  Worcester,  Mass.;  one 
to  Smitlriield,  two  to  Xantucket,  one  to  Boston,  and  the 
others  to  Xew  York.  Many  of  them  returned,  and  are 
now  in  Xew  Orleans,  benefiting  by  the  education  thqy 
have  received. 

After  more  than  twenty  years'  residence  in  a  slave 
State,  Mr.  Barker  has  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
master  is  a;  greater  slave  than  the  bondsman ;  that  slavery 
operates  prejudicially  to  the  agricultural  interests  of  the 
State  ;  but  it  is  an  evil  entailed  by  our  ancestors  which 
cannot  be  abolished  with  the  means  within  the  power  of 
tlie  State ;  that  the  slaveholders  would  consent  to  a  gen 
eral  emancipation  on  receiving  tlie  value  of  their  slaves 


6  THE   REBELLION: 

from  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States;  yet  they  have 
no  belief  that  their  condition  would  he  improved. 
*  Mr.  Barker  knows  that  they  are  more  comfortably  pro 
vided  for  when  in  health,  better  taken  care  of  when  sick, 
and  indulged  in  more  rational  amusements  than  are  en 
joyed  by  the  laboring  classes  of  any  other  country  ;  have 
full  religious  liberty,  and  are  allowed  to  intermarry 
according  to  their  own  fancy,  and  their  children  are 
generally  treated  with  the  same  kindness  as  those  of 
their  masters. 

True,  there  are  exceptions,  and  cruelties  practiced  in 
all  countries,  quite  as  much  so  in  free  as  in  slave  States. 
"\Vhen  a  white  man  is  detected  in  a  crime  he  is  punished 
in  free  States  according  to  the  nature  of  his  offence  ;  and 
Mr.  Barker  witnessed,  when  very  young,  the  horrible 
scene  of  a  white  wToman  being  tied  to  a  cart  in  a  public 
square,  and  there  receiving  on  her  naked  back  many 
lashes,  which  had  been  imposed  by  a  court  for  a  trifling 
theft.  When  slaves  are  detected  in  crime  they  are  also 
punished,  but  the  number  of  such  punishments  is  not 
believed  to  be  comparatively  as  great,  or  more  severe 
than  is  inflicted  on  offenders  in  free  States ;  yet  it  is  a 
constant  practice  of  those  who  are  opposed  to  the  institu 
tion  of  slavery  to  refer  to  these  occurrences  as  evidence 
of  general  cruel  treatment  of  slaves.  • 

These  people  are  greatly  deceived,  and  most  of  them 
very  honest  in  their  zeal  in  favor  of  freedom,  and,  Mr. 
Barker  is  persuaded,  would  not  meddle  if  they  knew  thp 
unfavorable  influence  of  their  measures,  causing  much 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  < 

Lrreater  restrictions  on  the  slaves  than  would  be  other 
wise  imposed. 

That  slavery  is  contrary  to  that  great  principle  which 
teaches  us  to  do  unto  others  as  we  would  that  they  should 
do  unto  us,  there  can  be  no  doubt ;  yet  it  is  idle  to  waste 
our  substance,  our  time,  and  our  good  feelings  for  each 
other  on  what  is  utterly  impracticable.  'How  far  the 
slaves  would  make  a  valuable  community,  if  made  free, 
and  placed  in  a  colony  by  themselves,  where  their  children 
could  be  educated  and  grow  up  free  from  the  withering 
influence  arising  from  the  supposition  that  they  were  to 
be  slaves  for  life,  is  problematical;  but  without  such  au 
education,  Mr.  Barker  is  satisfied  they  cannot  be  materi 
ally  benefited  by  the  interposition  of  white  men  at  a 
distance. 

Many  free  persons  of  color  being  subject  to  great  hard 
ships  from  the  police  of  New  Orleans,  Mr.  Barker  fre 
quently  interfered  in  their  behalf,  creating  very  consid 
erable  prejudice  against  him.  His  interference  was 
constantly  misrepresented  by  interested  parties  and  in  the 
newspapers.  So  great  at  one  time  was  this  feeling  that 
he  considered  it  expedient  to  make  the  following  publi 
cation  : 


"  TO    THE    PUBLIC. 


"My  opinions  and  conduct  having  been  grossly  mis 
represented,  I  beg  to  be  allowed  to  speak  for  myself. 

11  my  exertions  have  been  and  will  continue  to  be  con 
fined  to  sending  out  of  and  keeping  away  from  the  State 


"'/THE  REBELLION: 

free  men  of  color..  This,  when  properly  considered,  will 
be  approved  by  every  slaveholder. 

"On  the  3d  July  instant,  I  wrote  to  a  gentleman  at 
Philadelphia,  who  had  employed  me  to  present  to  court 
the  proof  of  the  freedom  of  a  man  confined  in  prison,\  as 
follows  : 

11  l  You  sltould  publish  in  the  newspapers  and  other 
wise  admonish  all  free  people  of  color  to  keep  away  from 
this  place,  and  especially. if  they  have  had  their  freedom 
established  here,  they  should  keep  away,  as  all  such  per 
sons  are  notified  to  quit  the  State  within  sixty  days,  and 
if  they  remain  or  return  again  after  the  sixty  days,  but 
for  an  hour,  they  are  sent  to  the  penitentiary  for  twelve 
months,  and  then  ordered  to  quit  in  thirty  days,  and  if 
they  remain  or  return  again  after  the  sixty  days,  but  for 
an  hour,  they  are  sent  to  the  penitentiary  for  life. 

"  'There  is  no  safety  for  free  men  of  color  not  born 
here,  or  here  before  1825,  but  to  keep  away  from  this 
place.  This  community  is  justly  afraid  of  their  contami 
nating  influence  on  the  slaves,  and  they  cannot  be  per 
mitted  to  mingle  with  each, other  ;  and  while  I  shall  at 
all  times  be  willing  to  aid  in  securing  to  free  men  the 
exercise  of  their  just  right,  without  regard  to  color,  I 
advocate  all  constitutional  and  legal  measures  for  keep 
ing  free  people  of  color  away  from  slaveholding  States. 
I  think  their  friends  in  your  quarter  cannot  do  them  a 
better  service  than  to  admonish  them  not  to  come  here.' 

"My  conduct  has  always  corresponded  with  these 
opinions.  I  have  not,  in  the  whole  course  of  my  life,  to 


ITS   CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  9 

my  recollection,  written  or  said  a  word,  in  or  out  of  court, 
at  variance  therefrom. 

"When  admitted  to  appear  in  the  courts  of  Louisiana, 
the  laws  of  the  State  as  well  as  my  duty  imposed  the  ob 
ligation  of  fidelity  to  my  clients,  and  it  is  strange  that 
any  one  should  complain  of  my  having  complied  with  the 
requisites  of  that  obligation.  It  must  have  been  mis 
representation  that  has  led  them  to  do  so. 

"}[y  family  have  a  deep  interest  in  slave  property, 
and  no  man  is  more  tenacious  of,  or  will  go  furtner  to 
protect  the  rights  of  slaveholders  than  myself. 

"If  any  man  feels  aggrieved,  he  has  but  to  point  out 
in  what  particular,  and  I  will  .afford  him'  all  the  satisfac 
tion  in  mv'power,  when  he  will  discover  that  he  had  no 
just  cause  of  complaint. 

"  Yfhy  pass  laws  protecting  free  men  of  color  if  it  is  to 
be  considered  wrong  for  counsel  to  appear  in  their  behalf? 
Xo  one  will  pretend  that  they  are  capable  of  maintaining 
in  court  their  own  rights.  And  if  they  were,  they,  at 
work  in  irons  on  the  highway,  could  not  get  their  cases 
before  the  court  with  the  proper  proofs.  % 

"It  may  be  here  proper  for  me  to  state,  for  the  infor 
mation  of  the  public,  some  of  the  many  facts  which  have 
come  to  my  knowledge  in  relation  to  the  treatment  of 
free  men  of  color  in  the  prison  of  the  Second  Munici 
pality.  Having  occasion  to  visit  that  prison  very  many 
prisoners  poured  forth  their  complaints  through  the  grates 
as  I  was  passing  through  the  road,  declaring  themselves 
free,  that  they  were  unlawfully  detained  and  kept  at  work 


10  THE    REBELLION: 

on  the  highway  in  chains.  It  would  have  been  inhuman 
to  have  turned  a  deaf  ear.  Many  of  them  appeared  to  be 
so  white  as  for  the  law  to  presume  them  free.  I  imme 
diately  represented  the  case  to  his  honor  the  Recorder, 
who  had  six  of  them  brought  up,  and  pronounced  five  of 
them  free  from  their  complexson,  without  argument  and 
without  requiring  any  other  testimony ;  and  on  my  in 
quiring  why  they  had  not  been  liberated  the  morning 
after  their  arrest,  their  degree  being  as  visible  then  as  at 
any  other  time,  his  honor  replied  that  they  had  been 
placed  in  the  chain  gang  by  the  officers  of  the  prison 
without  having  been  brought  up  before  him  for  examina 
tion.  Was  it  wrong  to  interfere  in  behalf  of  these  men  ? 

"  Public  justice  as  well  as  every  principle  of  humanity 
requires  that  prisoners,  however  great  their  offence, 
should  have  free  communication  with  their  counsel. 

"On  two  occasions  I  was  denied  all  access  to  prisoners 
in  the  Second  Municipality,  in  whose  defence  I  had  been 
requested  to  assist,  on  the  plea  that  no  such  persons  were 
confined.  After  many  months'  perseverance,  by  the  aid 
of  his  honor  the  Recorder,  I  had  an  interview  with  one 
of  them,  and  the  only  excuse  offered  for  his  concealment 
was  that  I  had  inquired  for  Charles  Chandler,  when  his 
name  was  Charles  C.  Chandler  ;  and  by  the  aid  of  his 
honor  the  Mayor,  with  the  other,  after  less  delay ;  the 
excuse  for  his  concealment  was  that  I  inquired  for  James 
Loyd  Warner,  when  they  knew  him  on  the  prison  books 
only  by  the  name  of  Warner.  Are  such  practices  to  be 
tolerated  in  this  enlightened  age?  There  was  not  any 
pretence  that  either  of  these  men  were  slaves. 


ITS   CONSEQUENCES,  ETC. 


11 


"On  a  recent  occasion  I  was  informed  that  a  colored 
man,  born  in  my  native  State,  Maine,  of  free  parents,  was 
in  the  chain  gang  at  work  on  the  highway — had  been, 
there  since  September  last,  although  the  driver  of  the 
gang  knew  him  to  be  free,  was  born  in  the  same  town, 
went  to  school  with  him,  and  had  known  him  from  his 
childhood.  I  communicated  these  facts  to  his  honor  the 
Recorder,  he  had  the  matter  promptly  inquired  into,  and 
the  man  liberated,  but  without  a  penny's  compensation 
for  nine  months'  services  improving  the  Second  Munici 
pality. 

"At  the  prisons  of  the  First  and  Third  Municipality  I 
have  been  treated  with  the  greatest  politeness,  and  every 
facility  afforded  by  the  officers  and  keepers  in  bringing 
the  law  to  the  relief  of  prisoners. 

"  Again,  it  was  the  practice  unlawfully  to  retain  prison 
ers  in  the  Second  Municipality  for  their  board,  doctors' 
bills,  etc.,  after  their  freedom  had  been  establishexl,  until 
I  brought  the  matter  before  a  higher  court ;  and  on  one 
occasion,  without  crediting  on  the  account  rendered  the 
money  taken  from  him  when  arrested.  The  public  will 
please  to  observe  that  the  ride  in  the  Second  Municipality 
was  to  allow  prisoners  three  picayunes  a  day  for  such 
days  as  they  labor  on  the  public  road,  and  to  charge  three 
picayunes  a  day  for  their  board,  in  addition  to  the  cloth 
ing  supplied,  the  doctors's  bills,  etc.  Hence,  as  they  can 
not  labor  on  Sundays,  holidays,  or  in  stormy  weather, 
they  are  brought  in  debt,  as  soon  as  confined,  the  amount 
of  which  is  augmented  weekly,  and  as  these  men  seldom 


12  THE   REBELLION: 

4 

have  money,  and  have  no  means  of  earning  any  during 
their  confinement,  their  simple  arrest,  without  being 
charged  with  the  slightest  offence,  would  amount  to  a 
decree  of  perpetual  imprisonment,  if  no  person,  from 
humane  feelings,  had  been  allowed  to  interfere,  and  no 
counsel  allowed  to  bring  their  case  before  the  tribunals 
of  the  country. 

"If  the  police  officers  of  the  Second  Municipality  ex 
pect  to  escape  exposure  by  their  attempts  to  light  up  the 
torch  of  suspicion  against  others,  and  to  continue  their 
unlawful  and  inhuman  conduct  towards  their  prisoners 
with  impunity,  they  will  be  mistaken.  The  Legislature 
is  composed  of  slaveholders,  who  understand  their  rights 
and  their  interest  too  well  to  permit  such  abuses.  They 
will  inquire  into  the  matter  and  make  all  obedient  to  the 
requirements  of  the  law.  JACOB  BARKER. 


At  a  public  meeting  held  at  the  Orleans  Theatre,  im 
mediately  preceding  the  election  of  Gov.  Hahn,  Mr. 
Barker  said,  among  other  things,  "that  the  Almighty  had 
fixed  a  distinguishing  mark  on  the  colored  population 
which  no  Christian  should  wish  to  obliterate.  The  object 
of  that  mark  short-sighted  man  cannot  divine — whether 
it  was  to  elevate  them  above,  or  to  place  them  below  the 
white  man's  standard,  no  man  knows.  They  should  be 
considered  architects  of  their  own  condition,  and  if  they 
could  display  more  virtue  and  skill  than  the  white  man, 
let  them  have  a  higher  position — a  straw  should  not  be 
laid  in  their  way.  So  far  from  doing  this,  Mr.  Barker 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  13 

said  he  had  always  felt  kindly  for  them,  and  would,  if 
he  had  the  power,  set  off  a  large  district  of  country,  in  a 
mild  climate,  and  tell  them  to  go  there  and  try  their  hand 
at  self-government.  He  was  confident  that  whatever 
benefit  posterity  might  derive  from  this  uncalled-for  and 
disastrous  war,  the  present  generation  could  reap  nothing 
but  bitter  fruit  therefrom — the  colored  race  more  than 
the  whites.  As  to  amalgamation,  it  could  not  be  toler 
ated.  He  said  he  did  not  attend  that  meeting  to  war 
with  the  decrees  of  his  Heavenly  Father — landmarks  are 
not  to  be  obliterated.77 

At  the  request  of  the  friends  of  Alfred  Hennen,  Esq., 
who  had  been  residing,  with  his  family,  on  his  plantation 
on  the  Lake,  Mr.  Barker,  after  peace  was  restored,  ad 
dressed  him  a  letter  inviting  his  return,  which  found  its 
way  into  the  public  print,  and  was  severely  criticised  by 
interested  individuals,  and  defended  by  others.  Yide  : 

[Communicated.] 

Editor  True  Delta — Mr.  Jacob  Barker's  letter  seems 
unnecessarily  to  have  disturbed  some  of  the  new  comers. 
That  gentleman  knows  too  well  the  advantage  of  patron 
izing  their  steamboats,  their  ships,  their  money,  and  other 
commercial  facilities  ;  and  also  the  comfort  derived  from 
their  ice,  their  sperm  candles,  codfish,  etc.,  etc.,  to  throw 
any  obstacles  in  the  way  of  those  who  traffic  in  such  com 
modities. 

The  aspect  of  the  letter  seems  to  be  exclusively  political '. 
Mr.  Barker  inherited  a  love  for  self-government,  and  has 


14  THE  REBELLION: 

advocated  it  from  childhood.     If  we  are  to  be  blessed 
with  a  king,  the  privilege  of  selecting  that  king. 

The  letter  insists  that  there  was  justice  in  contending 
for  the  rights  guaranteed  us  by  the  Constitution,  it  con 
demns  the  war,  it  tells  foreign  nations  of  the  bravery  of 
the  Confederate  army,  who  now  becomes  part  and  parcel 
of  the  army  of  the  United  States,  it  refers  kindly  to  our 
lamented  President,  it  ascribes  to  British  influence  the 
emancipation  of  the  slaves,  it  proclaims  the  partiality  of 
France  for  the  Confederates,  it  exposes  the  misfortune 
and  folly  of  the  resignation  of  the  members  of  Congress, 
ascribes  the  ruin  which  has  overtaken  this  community  to 
those  professed  friends,  and  points  out  how  political 
offices  could  be  occupied  by  men  of  our  own  choice  with 
out  any  reference  to  commercial  matters  ;  hence,  new 
comers  should  not  allow  their  equanimity  to  be  jostled. 
It  seems  to  us  that  the  letter  has  a  State  bearing  far 
above  the  point  which  has  attracted  much  attention.  Mr. 
Barker  seems  to  have  the  talent  of  saying  much  in  a  few 
words.  MENTOR. 

[By  the  Editor  of  the  True  Delta.] 

The  communication  of  "Investigator,"  which  may  be 
found  elsewhere,  will  be  generally  read.  It  is  a  very 
able,  but  moderately  worded  defence  of  the  course  our 
venerable  fellow-citizen,  Mr.  Jacob  Barker,  has  seen 
proper  to  pursue  in  regard  to  sundry  important  public 
matters ;  and  is  especially  a  vindication  of  his  letter  to 
Alfred  Hennen,  Esq. — the  able  and  distinguished  father 
of  the  bar  of  the  Southwest— published  some  weeks  £mce, 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  15 

which  attracted  much  attention  and  elicited  considerable 
criticism  at  the  time  of  its  publication.  That  letter  is 
embodied  in  the  communication  referred  to  ;  and  of  its 
merits,  as  well  as  of  the  merits  of  the  defence  and  ex* 
planation  which  follow,  the  public  is  fully  competent  to 
judge. 

If  our  memory  serves  us  correctly,  for  we  were  not 
"in  harness77  at  the  time,  the  chief  objection  to  Mr. 
Barker's  letter  consisted  in  his  application  of  the  phrase 
"new  comers."  It  was  thought  that  he  meant  the  future 
exclusion  of  meritorious  classes  of  people  wrho  have  come 
among  us,  and  who  propose,  by  the  use  of  their  capital 
and  industry,  to  build  up  the  commerce  and  agriculture 
of  our  city  and  State,  until  they  reach  their  former  pitch 
of  prosperity  and  grandeur.  Had  this  been  the  motive, 
it  would  have  deserved  the  severest  condemnation.  But 
"Investigator"  says  that  Mr.  Barker  only  referred  to 
partied  who  had  been  guilty  of  dishonest  practices  at  the 
polls  ;  and  as  he  is  evidently  well  posted  in  the  premises, 
it  is  not  incumbent  upon  us  to  deny  or  support  his  con 
clusions. 

For  our  part,  we  gladly  welcome  all  honest  and  loyal 
"new  comers. "  We  wish  them  to  come  from  New 
England,  from  New  York,  from  all  parts  of  the  North 
and  from  Europe.  Let  them  come  with  their  capital, 
their  skilled  and  other  labor,  their  general  industry  and 
enterprise — -and  the  more  the  better,  All  will  be  wel 
comed.  There  is  an  inexhaustible  field  before  them, 
where  all  will  be  protected  in  their  rights,  and  all  re- 


16  THE   REBELLION: 

spectcd  as  they  deserve.  The  man,  or  set  of  men,  who 
would  infringe  upon  the  one  or  trespass  upon  the  other, 
would  be  indignantly  frowned  upon  by  the  entire  com 
munity.  As  we  have  frequently  before  stated  in  these 
columns,  we  do  not  believe  such  a  field  for  the  investment 
of  capital  and  labor  in  commerce,  agriculture  and  manu 
factures,  ever  before  presented  itself  upon  the  surface  of 
the  earth  ;  and  we  shall  be  much  mistaken  if  an  immense 
influx  of  both  does  not  soon  cause  the  South  to  become 
as  wealthy  and  prosperous  as  she  is  now  impoverished 
and  desolate. 

[Communicated.] 

The  following  letter  of  Mr:  Jacob  Barker  to  Alfred 
Hennen,  Esq,  has  been  severely  criticised  : 

NEW  ORLEANS,  June  12,  1865. 

Alfred  Hennen,  Esq. :  My  Dear  Sir — The  battle  being 
over,  and  the  victors  too  numerous  and  too  well  supplied 
with  the  sinews  of  war,  triumphed  over  unequaled  per 
severance,  courage  and  endurance,  with  which  they  were 
resisted  for  four  years,  until  it^becamc  useless  to  continue 
the  strife  ;  therefore,  it  behooves  .us  to  make  the  best  of 
our  position,  and  qualify  ourselves  to  use  our  rights  at 
the  ballot-box. 

Our  original  cause  was  just,  and  the  battle  should  have 
been  fought  in  Congress.  Had  that  been  done,  the  Abo 
lition  party  would  have  been  left  out  in  the  cold. 

Our  members  of  Congress  threw  away*  the  game  by 
resigning  their  scats,  and  then  the  assault  on  the  flag,  the 
forts  and  the  public  property,  dissolved  the  moral  influ 
ence  of  the  Constitution,  and  induced  our  friends  at  the 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  17 

North  generally  to  abandon  our  cause  and  join  those  they 
detested,  from  whom  they  can  be  detached  by  a  return, 
on  our  part,  to  the  Union,  with  a  becoming  reverence  for 
the  Star  Spangled  Banner. 

It  behooves  all  our  citizens  to  return  at  once  and  qualify 
themselves  to  vote.  Do  this,  and  we  shall  assuredly  suc 
ceed  in  giving  the  new  comers  leave  of  absence  at  the 
next  election. 

The  blemish  of  slavery  has  been  effaced  from  the 
National  record.  I  would  not  have  it  restored  if  I  could. 
If  done,  it  would  be  a  valueless  shadow ;  half  the  money 
wasted  on  the  war  would  have  purchased  their  freedom, 
and  we  are  in  debt  to  those  who  professed  to  be  our 
friends,  for  the  loss — the  irretrievable  loss — we  have  sus 
tained. 

Emancipation  was  adopted  by  the  late  worthy  Presi 
dent,  to  please  England,  and  thereby  prevent  foreign 
interference  in  favor  of  the  Confederacy.  France  dared 
not  interfere  in  opposition  to  the  known  wishes  of 
England. 

My  best  wishes  await  all  the  members  of  your  family, 
anticipating  the  pleasure  of  seeing  them  back  to  the  city. 

I  am,  very  respectfully,  your  friend, 

JACOB  BARKER. 

The  critics  say  the  author  of  the  letter  showed  himself 
a  rebel,  by  saying  our  original  cause  was  just.  How  far 
he  merits  the  sobriquet  may  be  seen  by  his  various  mani 
festations  during  our  political  troubles — a  retrospective 
view  of  which  is  in  course  of  republicatipn — his  reverence 


18  THE   REBELLION: 

for  the  ballot-box,  his  universal  kindness  to  the  families 
of  absent  Confederates,  and  to  the  colored  population, 
may  have  entitled  him  to  be  held  in  that  estimation.  In 
a  speech  made  at  a  public  meeting  at  the  Odd  Fellows' 
Hall,  immediately  before  the  Ordinance  of  Secession  was 
passed,  he  said  : 

"The  canvas  of  my  ships  has  whitened  every  sea,  un 
furling  to  the  breeze  of  every  clime  the  Star  Spangled 
Banner,  the  glittering  emblem  of  our  Union  and  inde 
pendence,  of  which  every  American  citizen,  native  and 
adopted,  is  justly  proud.  If  compelled  to  give  it  up,  I 
would  attend  its  funeral  clad  in  habiliments  of  woe." 

Some  who  have  criticised  the  letter,  object  to  the  re 
mark,  that  slavery  was  a  blemish  on  our  National  charac 
ter.  The  author  always  considered  the  constitutional 
provision  in  favor  of  slavery  a  blemish  ;  yet,  it  having 
been  settled  as  a  matter  of  compromise,  the  question  was 
not  open  for  debate,  except  by  amending  the  Constitution 
as  therein  provided.  Confiding  in  this  guarantee,  the 
South  was  induced  to  invest  their  all  in  such  property, 
whence  their  claim  for  the  fulfillment  of  that  guarantee 
was  originally  just,  and  continued  so  as  long  as  they  ob 
served  the  other  provisions  of  that  sacred  charter.  They 
annulled  their  right  to  a  fulfillment  of  the  guarantee  of 
the  slave  question,  by  assaulting  the  Union,  the  flag,  the 
forts  and  the  other  property  of  the  United  States,  all  of 
which  were  equally  guaranteed  by  the  Constitution. 

Slavery  being  thus  abolished,  Mr.  Barker  would  not 
have  it  renewed  if  he  could.  If  clone,  his  letter  says  it 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  19 

would  be  a  valueless  shadow.     He  might  have  added  that 
it  would  be  the  cause  of  renewed  strife  and  agitation. 

Mr.  Barker  took  an  active  part  in  that  election.  The 
result,  in  such  of  the  rural  parishes  that  made  returns, 
although  light,  indicates  the  feeling  of  the  permanent  citi 
zens.  From  six,  the  returns  were  as  foUows  : 

Successful  Candidate.     Conservative  Candidate' 

Parish  of  St.  Bernard 5 .* 199 

St.  James 7....  . 107 

Assumption 24 '. 44L 

Lafourche 223 392 

Terrebonne 13 238 

St.  Charles 12 37 

Total , 283  1415 

The  majorities  in  the  rural  parishes  were  overcome  by 
illegal  and  fraudulent  votes,  cast  principally  in  the  city  of 
New  Orleans,  of  which  the  public  have  abundant  testi 
mony  furnished  by  His  Excellency  Gov.  Wells,  who  says: 

PROCLAMATION. 

By  J.  Madison  Wells,  Governor  of  the  State  of  Louisiana. 
Whereas,  according  to  an  official  statement  of  J.  Ran 
dall  Terry,  late  Register  of  voters  in  and  for  the  city  of 
New  Orleans,  made  to  me  under  date  of  March  6th,  1865. 
nearly  five  thousand  persons  are  registered  as  voters  on 
the  books  of  said  office,  who  do  not  possess  the  qualifica 
tions  required  by  law  to  become  voters  in  this  State,  and 
whereas,  it  is  made  my  duty  to  see  that  the  laws  are  en 
forced  ;  and  whereas,  the  only  way  in  which  the  elective 
franchise  can  be  purified  and  the  rights  of  the  citizen  be 
protected  against  those  illegal  votes,  is  by  a  new  registra* 


20  THE  REBELLION: 

tion  of  the  names  and  residences  of  all  the  qualified 
electors  of  the  city  of  New  Orleans — an  inconvenience 
which  every  good  and  law-abiding  citizen  will  cheerfully 
submit  to  for  the  sake  of  the  end  to  be  be  accomplished. 

&  *  #  #  #  & 

Those  who  like  to  be  governed  by  such  a  Legislature 
and  such  a  Convention  as  resulted  from  the  last  election, 
will  doubtless  disapprove  of  the  exercise  of  the  elective 
franchise  by  our  permanent  citizens.  How  else  than  by 
their  votes  can  the  new-comers  be  prevented  from  con 
tinuing  to  stuff  the  ballot-boxes  with  illegal  and  fraudu 
lent  votes.  Had  the  ballots  then  cast  been  by  qualified 
voters,  they  would  not  have  been  illegal  or  fraudulent. 
It  was  to  such  that  the  letter  referred  when  it  spoke  of 
leave  of  absence  to  new-comers.  His  remarks  had  special 
reference  to  the  election.  The  whole  letter  bears  that 
impress,  and  it  should  be  considered,  as  a  whole,  referring 
exclusively  to  those  who  were  thus  attempting  to  control 
the  reorganization  of  our  political  institutions. 

The  letter  speaks  kindly  of  our  late  worthy  President, 
of  the  bravery  of  the  Confederate  soldiers — which  may  be 
considered"  a  hint  at  enforcing  the  Monroe  doctrine — it 
exhibits  the  disposition  of  France  and  England  in  relation 
to  the  rebellion,  what  induced  the  emancipation  procla 
mation,  the  feeling  of  the  Democratic  party  at  the  North 
in  relation  to  the  Abolitionists,  condemns  secession  and 
the  war,  and  says  emancipation  could  have  been  accom 
plished  by  compensation  at  half  the  cost  of  the  war  ;  that 
the  Southern  cause  was  sacrificed  by  their  representatives 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  21 

resigning  their  seats  in  Congress  ;  that  the  battle  should 
have  been  fought  there  and  not  at  the  cannon's  mouth. 
It  urges  the  ballot-box  as  our  safeguard — the  palladium 
of  our*  liberties — and  entreats  all  to  qualify  themselves  to 
participate  in  the  coming  elections. 

Some  who  have  criticised  the  letter,  consider  it  the 
effusions  of  second  childhood  ;  others,  that  his  conclusions 
are  sound,  although  not  palatable  to  those  of  either  party 
who  do  not  like  to  have  their  errors  unveiled. 

The  letter  speaks  for  itself;  the  criticism  induces  its 
perusal.  As  to  our  returning  erring  brothers,  Mr.  Barker 
is  known  to  entertain  similar  views  to  those  expressed  by 
General  Sickles  at  Tammany  Hall,  Xew  York,  at  the 
Fourth  of  July  celebration.  INVESTIGATOR. 

[From  the  Picayune.] 
LETTER    OF    MR.    JACOB    BARKER. 

The  following  is  a  copy  of  a  letter  addressed  by  our 
fellow-citizen,  Jacob  Barker,  to  a  friend  in  Washington 
to  be  exhibited  to  the  President : 

NEW  ORLEANS,  August  25,  1865. 

The  rebellion  is  happily  over,  thanks  to  Gen.  Sherman  ! 

The  question  now  presented  is,  how  the  vanquished  are 
to  be  treated  ?  Their  sufferings  and  disappointments  have 
been  too  great  for  the  present  generation  ever  to  think  of 
again  resorting  to  the  cannon's  mouth  to  redress  wrongs, 
real  or  imaginary  ;  hence,  no  necessity  to  guard  against 
such  a  calamity,  and  no  Christian  can  wish  to  inflict  fur 
ther  sufferings  on  the  deluded  advocates  of  secession. 


-2  THE   REBELLION: 

The  return  of  the  "prodigal  son"  was  celebrated  by 
killing  the  "fatted  calf." 

Subsequently,  there  was  a  worthy  example  of  forgive 
ness,  by  Nangfu,  the  Emperor  of  China,  who,  being  told 
that  his  enemies  had  raised  an  insurrection  in  one  of  the 
distant  provinces,  said  :  "Come,  then,  my  friends,  follow 
me,  and  I  promise  you  that  we  shall  quickly  destroy 
them  ! "  He  marched  forward,  and  the  rebels  submitted 
on  his  approach.  All  now  thought  he  would  take  the 

most  signal  revenge,   but  were   surprised  by  seeing  the 

i 

captives  treated  with  mildness  and  humanity.  "How!" 
exclaimed  the  first  minister,  "is  this  the  way  you  fulfill1 
your  promise  ?  Your  ro}ral  word  was  given  that  your 
enemies  should  be  destroyed,  and  behold  you  have  par 
doned  all,  arid  even  caressed  some."  "I  promised," 
replied  the  Emperor,  with  a  generous  air,  "to  destroy 
my  enemies ;  I  have  fulfilled  iny  word ;  they  are  enemies 
710  longer ;  I  have  made  friends  of  them." 

The  object  of  punishment  is  to  prevent  offences,  not 
for  revenge,  leaving  the  offenders  tlie  hope  of  Heavenly 
forgiveness,  which  is  an  affair  to  be  settled  by  the  Great 
Author  of  our  being  when  the  vital  spark  leaves  the 
earthly  tabernacle.  Hence  the  wisdom  of.  promptly  re 
storing  our  deluded  citizens  to  their  civil  rights,  and  to 
such  of  their  property  as  has  not  been  vested  in  others. 
This  would  greatly  resuscitate  commerce,  restore  ]STew 
Orleans  to  her  merited  importance,  and  redound  materi 
ally  to  the  benefit  of  the  Treasury — objects  of  the  greatest 
importance. 


ITS   CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  23 

No  palliation  can  be  offered  for  the  political  aspirants 
who  brought  about  the  rebellion.  It  was  little  short  of 
insanity  !  Their  deluded  followers  were  made  to  believe 
that  the  Constitution  was  a  mere  partnership  contract, 
that  its  violation*  by  one  party  anthorized  the  other  to 
consider  the  whole  annulled  •  that  the  Abolition  party 
had,  by  refusing  to  observe  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  by 
refusing  to  surrender  fugitive  slaves,  by  their  personal 
laws,  and  by  their  removal  of  Judge  Loring  for  having 
respected  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court,  violated  the 
compact.  They  were  made  to  believe  that  the  North 
designed  emancipation — although  it  resulted  from  the 
war.  Such  design  was  entertained  only  by  Abolitionists, 
who  composed  a  small  proportion  of  the  supporters  of  Mr. 
Lincoln's  first  election,  and  he  then  lacked  more  than  a 
million  of  a  majority  of  the  votes  cast.  These  men  intend 
to  press  us  farther  on  the  sable  question,  in  which  we 
shall,  with  becoming  exertions,  assuredly  floor  them. 

These  considerations  induced  the  multitude  to  believe 
that  they  were  called  upon  to  offer  up  their  lives,  their 
fortunes  and  their  health  in  support  of  what  they  had 
been  taught  to  believe  was  ''States'  Rights.7'  Hence, 
deluded. 

Long  before  secession  took  place,  and  during  its  whole 
continuance,  I  endeavored,  by  various  publications  and 
otherwise,  to  impress  the  public  with  the  belief  that  it 
was  in  the  highest  degnee  impolitic,  fraught  with  all  the 
evil  consequences  we  are  now  experiencing. 

I  had   supposed  confiscation  of  private  property  on 


24  THE  REBELLION: 

shore,  without  conviction  for  crime,  had  been  exploded 
by  the  enlightened  ages.  My  experience  in  the  war  of 
1812  confirmed  that  opinion.  Neither  Great  Britain  nor 
the  United  States  descended  to  such  degradation,  befit 
ting  the  "dark  ages.77 

Both  sides,  in  the  present  case,  seem  equally  to  blame  ; 
it  is  believed  to  have  originated  without  any  special  law 
or  authority  from  either  Government ;  the  first  that  was 
heard  of  it  was  the  sequestration  by  the  United  States 
District  Attorney  of  the  balances  in  the  New  York  banks 
due  those  residing  in  the  "Confederate  States/'  which 
created  such  a  storm  in  Wall  street  that  the  proceedings 
were  withdrawn  before  3  o'clock  P.  M.  the  same  day  they 
were  instituted.  The  Confederate  Congress  took  the 
alarm,  apparently  glad  of  the  opportunity,  and  proceeded 
to  pass  confiscation  laws,  which  were  enforced  to  a  fright 
ful  extent,  when  the  United  States  Congress  followed 
their  example. 

However,  the  further  inquiry  of  who  was  most  to 
blame  for  those  laws,  would  not  be  productive  of  that 
harmony  I  wish  to  inculcate.  The  occasion  which  called 
those  laws  into  being  having  passed  away,  they  should 
be  abolished.  Our  own  experience  tells  us  that  kindness 
begets  kindness.  Our  much  lamented  President  Lincoln 
is  believed  to  have  entertained  those  views,  and  his  patri 
otic  successor  seems  to  be  carrying  them  out  to  a  praise 
worthy  extent.  It  is  considered  impossible  that  any  man 
can  make  the  necessary  investigations  on  the  numerous 
applications  for  pardon  pressing  for  prompt  action,  to 


ITS   CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  25 

enable  him  to  decide  on  the  intrinsic  merits  of  each  ; 
hence,  in  justice  to  himself  and  the  Nation  at  large, 
which  feels  a  deep  interest  in  his  health  and  welfare,  it 
would  be  good  policy  to  issue  an  amnesty  proclamation, 
embracing  all  who  might  not  be  considered  dangerous,  on 
their  taking  in  good  faith  a  prescribed  oath,  allowing  the 
cxcepted  class  to  leave  the  country,  as  Britain  did  my 
lamented  friend,  Thomas  Addis  Emmet,  who  proved  a 
brilliant  ornament  to  the  legal  profession,  and  in  his 
social  intercourse  a  charm  to  all  who  participated  therein. 
Unless  some  such  measure  is  adopted,  it  is  apprehended 
that  the  service,  together  with  his  other  official  duties, 
will  be  too  severe  for  the  Executive.  Let  him  beware  of 
those  who  wish  his  downfall.  On  his  successfully  main 
taining  his  present  position  depends  the  restoration  of  the 
Democratic  party. 


MR.    BARKER'S   NOMINATION    FOR   CONGRESS. 
Here  we  have  the  published  opinions  of  Mr.  Barker, 
which  led  to  his  nomination  to  represent  the  second  com 
mercial  city  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States : 

CORRESPONDENCE. 

[Copy.] 

NEW  ORLEANS,  October  21,  1865. 
lion.  Jacob  Barker,  New  Orleans  : 

Sir — The  undersigned,  a  committee  appointed  by  the 
Delegates  of  the  Second  Congressional  District,  have  the 
honor  to  announce  to  you  that  you  have  been  selected  as 
their  candidate  for  Congress  to  ^represent  the  Second 
Congressional  District  of  Louisiana. 


26  THE    REBELLION: 

Feeling  assured  that  you  are  ever  willing  and  ready  to 
sacrifice  your  personal  interest  for  the  good  of  your  coun 
try,  we  expect  an  early  acceptance  on  your  part. 

We  have  the  honor,  honored  sir,  to  remain  your  obe 
dient  servants,  H.  D.  OGDEN, 

P.  G.  MOHAN, 
D.  P.  SCANLAN. 


ORLEANS,  October  21,  18C5. 
To  H.  D.  Ogden,  Esq.,   P.   G.  Mohan,  Esq.,  and  D.  P. 
Scanlan,  Esq.  : 

Gentlemen — I  have  had  the  honor  to  receive  your 
letter,  announcing  my  selection  by  the  delegates  of  the 
Second  Congressional  District  as  a  candidate  to  represent 
it  in  the  National  Assembly. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  Mr.  Eozier  declined  the  honor 
tendered  to  him ;  the  important  interests  at  stake  require 
the  advocacy  of  such  men.  I  do  not  feel  equal  to  the 
task,  yet  I  cannot  decline  so  distinguished  an  honor,  in 
convenient  as  it  will  be  for  me  to  leave  home.  If  the 
name  of  another  approved  candidate  should  be  presented, 
I  shall  cheerfully  withdraw. 

The  great  question  to  be  decided  will  be  the  recog 
nition  of  this  State,  with  all  her  constitutional  rights 
restored,  except  the  institution  of  slavery,  which  has  been 
abolished  by  the  war,  not  to  be  revived  or  discussed.  The 
State  being  recognized,  it  will  become  the  duty  of  the 
Legislature,  among  other  important  questions,  to  pass 
such  laws  as  will  protect  the  freedrnen  in  their  rights  to 


ITS   CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  27 

contract  with  whom  they  like,  and  to  appropriate  the 
fruits  of  their  labor  to  the  education  of  their  children,  or 
otherwise,  to  suit  their  fancy. 

My  opinions  on  other  subjects  are  too  well  known  to 
the  electors  whose  votes  I  solicit,  to  require  further  ex 
planation. 

Permit  me,  gentlemen,  to  thank  you,  and  those  you 
represent,  for  the  honor  conferred  on 

Your  obedient  servant,  JACOB  BARKER! 


[From  the  New  Orleans  Times.] 

We  are  requested  to  give  at  some  length  the  remarks 
of  Mr.  Barker,  at  the  St.  Mary's  Market  meeting  last 
evening : 

Mr.  Barker,  loudly  called  for,  appeared  in  the  midst  of 
enthusiastic  cheering.  He  said  his  name  was  not  among 
those  who  had  been  chosen  by  the  organizers  of  this 
meeting  to  address  it ;  and  that  after  the  display  of  so 
much  logic  and  oratory  as  had  been  witnessed,  it  would 
be  presumptuous  in  him,  at  this  late  hour,  to  expect  to 
detain  this  immense  meeting  to  hear  many  remarks  from 
him.  The  whole  ground  had  been  occupied  by  others — 
no  thunder  left  for  him — yet  he  .would  make  a  few  re 
marks  ;  and  he  spoke  of  the  rule  of  Butler  and  Banks, 
and  still  of  another,  of  whom  the  people  were  glad  to  be 
rid — Conway.  He  had  borne  the  intelligence  of  Cori- 
vruv's  removal  to  Mr.  King,  editor  of  the  Times.  It  had 
the  same  thrilling  effect  on  the  community  as  the  look 
out  sailor's  cry  from  the  masthead,  "Land!  land  on  the 


28  THE    REBELLION: 

starboard  bow ! "  has  on  the  crew  and  passengers  of  a 
si  lip  in  a  storm  approaching  our  coast  after  a  disastrous 
voyage.  So  astonished  was  the  incumbent  at  that  unex 
pected  information,  that  he  induced  the  editor  to  contra 
dict  the  report,  in  the  Times  of  the  following  day.  Yet, 
when  the  fog  cleared  up,  the  beautiful  land  was  in  view. 

The  Freedmen's  Bureau  has  been  the  greatest  curse  of 
the  war,  devastating  our  flourishing  fields,  reducing  our 
luxuriant  crops  from  a  yield  of  fifty  millions  to  not  more 
than  two  millions.  In  place  of  the  reverend  gentleman 
we  now  have  Gen.  Fullerton,  whose  course  promises  all 
we  can  ask  ;  restoration  of  sequestered  property  goes  on 
rapidly  under  his  wise  and  patriotic  administration  ;  what 
we  heretofore  considered  a  curse  is  likely  to  become  a 
blessing,  so  long  as  military  rule  continues  over  this 
State. 

The  great  question  to  be  settled  is  the  recognition  of 
Louisiana,  not  her  admission  or  reconstruction,  as  she  has 
not  been  out  of  the  United  States.  He  entreated  all  to 
view  the  approaching  canvass  to  be  a  National  one — the 
candidates  and  their  election  a  minor  question.  He  con 
sidered  that  the  South  should  be  ruled  by  Southern- men  ; 
so  thinks  President  Johnson.  To  effect  that  object  it  is 
only  necessary  to  sustain  the  patriotic  views  he  has  put 
forth.  Will  you  do  this  ?  [The  crowd  answered,  "We 
will,  we  will ! "]  Our  citizens  who  have  returned  to  the 
support  of  the  Union  and  the  Star  Spangled  Banner  have 
done  so  in  good  faith,  and  can  now  be  considered  as  form 
ing  part  and  parcel  of  the  most  loyal,  and  entitled  to  the 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  29 

cordial  support  of  the  Democratic  party,  and  they  will 
receive  it. 

As  to  the  working  men,  they  do  not  wish  any  legisla 
tive  interference  with  their  occupation  further  that  suita 
ble  laws  to  insure  prompt  fulfillment  of  such  contracts  as 
they  may  make  ;  they  prefer  to  do  as  they  please  with 
their  own  rights. 

The  freedmen  should  be  protected  in  their  right  to  ap 
propriate  their  earnings  to  the  education  .of  their  own 
children,  or  otherwise,  according  to  their  own  fancy  ;  the 
collections  now  in  progress  of  a  tax  to  educate  the  colored 
children,  Mr.  Barker  said,  was  considered  unconstitu 
tional,  because  it  was  not  equal ;  and  unjust,  because  the 
scale  of  appraisement  estimated  the  amount  to  be  paid 
on  the  value  of  the  property,  while  the  slaves  constituted 
three-fourths  the  amount ;  for  the  parties  who  had  thus 
demolished  its  value  -to  require  a  tax  on  such  an  estimate 
from  those  whom  they  had  impoverished,  Mr.  Barker  said 
he  considered  unjust  in  the  extreme,  and  that  on  a  proper 
representation  to  the  Government  that  General  Order 
No.  38  would  be  abrogated,  which  was  never  enforced 
by  its  author,  issued  on  the  supposition  that  it  would  aid 
in  crushing  out  the  rebellion,  for  which  purpose  he  had 
been  sent  here. 

Our  opponents  say  the  Democratic  party  is  opposed  to 
the  Catholics.  This  is  untrue.  It  is  proverbial  for  its 
liberality  towards  all  religious  denominations  ;  .and  as  to 
myself,  I  am  not  a  sectarian.  I  consider  the  avowed  ob 
ject  of  all  is  to  find  a  resting  place  in  Heaven.  In  the 


30  THE  REBELLION: 

attainment  of  this  object  Mr.  Barker  said  he  wished  them 
all  possible  success.  Religion  being  an  affair  between 
God  and  man  individually,  no  political  interference  can 
be  tolerated.  So  far  as  the  Catholics  are  concerned,  he 
considered  that  they  have  rendered  greater  service  to  the 
civilized  world  than  any  other  religious  denomination. 

He  said  it  was  not  his  purpose  to  refer  to  either  of  the 
candidates,  excepting  to  refute  the  slander,  put  forth  by 
one  of  them,  over  his  signature,  in  the  newspapers,  Mr. 
Overall,  accusing  us  of  slandering  the  fair  ladies  of  New 
Orleans — which  is  false.  He  cannot  find  a  single  lady  in 
this  city  who  will  say  that  Jacob  Barker  ever  slandered 
her.  Mr.  Barker  now  sees  on  the  adjoining  balconies 
many  of  the  fair  sex,  w7hose  presence  is  an  omen  of  suc 
cess,  to  whom  he  says,  he  is  never  happier  than  when 
advocating  their  cause. 

To  the  Editor  of  the  New  Orleans  Times  : 

The  status  of  the  freedmen  seems  to  engross  public 
attention  more  than  any  other  subject.  The  feelings  of 
this  community,  if  we  credit  the  published  accounts,  have 
been  misrepresented  at  Washington  by  Gov.  Halm  and 
others,  and  we  know  them  to  have  been  grossly  misrepre 
sented  by  the  orators  at  the  meeting  lately  held  by  the 
Abolition  party  at  the  Orleans  Theatre. 

The  late  election  for  an  individual  to  represent  this  city 
in  Congress,  from  the  Second  District,  should  put  the 
.question  at  rest.  The  election  was  closely  and  fairly 
contested.  Four  candidates  were  in  the  field. 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  EEC.  31 

B.  F.  Lynch,  Independent,  received 530  votes. 

J.  W.  Overall,         "  "  ""   216       " 

A.  P.  Field,  Conservative,         "        3G6       " 

Jacob  Barker,  Union,  "        2473       M 

Mr.    Barker   received  1361  more  votes  than  all   the 
others  together. 

The  triumphant  vote  cast  for  Mr.  Barker  establishes 
that  this  community  approve  of  his  published  opinions. 

CITIZEN. 


The  members  from  the  eleven  States  repaired  to  Wash 
ington,  where  they  were  informed  that  Mr.  McPherson, 
the  Clerk  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  would  not 
insert  their  names  on  the  rolls  to  be  called  when  the 
House  assembled. 

On  the  previous  evening  there  had  been  a  caucus  of 
the  members  of  both  Houses  .from  the  other  twenty-five 
States,  who  had  resolved  that  there  should  be  a  Recon 
struction  Committee,  to  consist  of  six  Senators  and  nine 
members  of  the  House  of  Representatives ;  in  effect,  that 
all  questions  relating  to  the  eleven  excluded  States  should 
be  referred  to  such  committee.  The  members  from  the 
twenty-five  States  assembled,  appointed  the  proposed 
Reconstruction  Committee,  refusing  to  receive  the  mem 
bers  form  the  other  eleven  States,  denying  to  them  the 
privilege  of  the  floor  or  the  right  of  being  heard. 

Mr.  Barker  had  an  interview  with  Messrs.  Stevens  and 
Kelly,  of  the  House,  and  Mr.  Wilson,  of  the  Senate,  and 
from  what  they  said  and  from  the  aforesaid  proceedings. 


32  THE  REBELLION: 

he  came  to  the  conclusion  that  they  intended  to  pass  bills 
adverse  to  the   South,  which  they  feared  the  President 
would  veto,  in  which  case   they  felt  strong  enough  to 
override  his  veto,  if  they  kept  out  the  members  from  the 
eleven  excluded  States,  which  they  could  not  do  if  they 
were   admitted.      Mr.   Barker,  considering  the  question 
settled  until  such  bills  should   be  disposed  of,  left  his 
credentials  with  Mr.  McPherson,  the  Clerk,  and  returned 
home,  urging  his  constituents  to  patience  and  reliance  on 
the  ballot-box,  in  the  hope  that  all  would  be  made  right 
as  soon  as  the  people  of  the  Great  West  were  sufficiently 
enlightened  on  the  subject.     He  insists  that  the  creden 
tials  of  the  persons  elected  from  the  eleven  States  were 
of  equal  validity  with  those  from  the  other  States  ;  that 
they  should  have  been  allowed  to  have  taken  their  seats 
and  participated  in  the  organization  of  the  two  Houses  ; 
that  done,  each  House  had  the  constitutional  right  to  pass 
upon  the  qualifications  of  its  members  ;  but  that  they  had 
not  the  right  to  refer  the  subject  to  a  committee  of  the 
two  Houses,   or  to   divide  the  responsibility  with  each 
other.     Aware  of  this,  the  committee  is  denominated  the 
Reconstruction  Committee,   which  covers  the   question. 
If  the  public  had  fully  understood  the  question  it  would 
have  been  proper  for  the  President  to  have  refused  to 
acknowledge  those  assembled  to  be  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States.      The  necessities  of  the  Xation  required 
appropriation  and  other  laws,  hence  it  was  better  for  the 
President  to  wait  for  the  people  to  demand  such  a  course 
than  to  have  taken  the  lead  therein  without  their  prompt- 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  33 

ing.  The  case  will  be  different  on  the  assembling  of 
Congress  in  December  next ;  before  which,  if  the  Presi 
dent  proclaims  his  intention  to  recognize  the  members 
elected  from  the  eleven  States  in  their  constitutional 
rights,  the  friends  of  law  and  order  will  sustain  the  mea 
sure.  His  oath  of  office  binds  him  to  do  so,  as  much  as 
to  see  the  other  laws  properly  enforced.  These  rights 
are  to  have  the  qualification  of  each  individual  claiming 
a  seat  passed  on  simply  by  the  House  to  which  he  has 
been  appointed  or  elected.  In  this  way  all  or  any  mem 
ber  might,  if  sufficient  cause  appeared,  be  deprived  of  his 
seat,  constitutionally,  but  could  not  be  in  any  other  way. 

We  are  a  subdued  people,  and  submit  in  all  sincerity, 
convinced  of  the  folly  of  the  efforts  made  to  establish  a 
separate  government ;  we  have  suffered  too  much  in  life, 
limb,  health,  property  and  commerce,  ever  again  to  be 
found  fighting  against  the  Constitution  and  the  Union,  or 
under  any  other  flag  than  the  Star  Spangled,  Banner. 
The  victors  know  this  and  know  our  bravery,  and  should 
treat  us  with  becoming  magnanimity. 

The  agricultural,  commercial,  manufacturing  and  finan 
cial  interests  of  the  whole  Nation  require  the  cultivation 
of  kindness  on  all  sides.  The  strife  should  be,  who  can 
excel  in  that  noble  work. 

We  arc  disarmed  and  driven  to  the  wall,  and  if  pressed 
too  hard,  shall  be  unwillingly  compelled  to  resort  to  the 
only  retaliatory  measures  left  to  our  disposal — commer 
cial  restrictions — in  which  the  noble  ladies  of  the  South 
3 


34  THE  REBELLION: 

will  perform  an  important  part.  We  have  no  power  to 
prohibit  importations,  but  when  imported  we  can  allow 
them  to  lay  mouldering  on  the  shelves,  of  the  importers, 
patronizing  foreign  ships  and  steamboats,  while  we  are 
feasting  on  the  products  of  the  West,  attired  in  the  fabrics 
of  Lyons  and  Manchester,  using  silver  and  gold,  which 
will  endure  until  tjie  nature  of  the  female  character  shall 
be  revolutionized.  French  shoes  and  English  muslins  will 
be  good  substitutes  for  L}rnn  shoes  and  Lowell  cottons. 


Having  demonstrated  the  circumstances  which  led  to 
the  election  of  Mr.  Barker,  we  shall  leave  Investigator 
to  go  on  with  his  contemplated  work  of  republishing 
what  has  heretofore  appeared  in  relation  to  Mr.  Barker's 
course,  pending  the  question  of  secession,  that  the  reader 
may  fully  understand  the  feelings  and  sentiments  of  the 
individual  elected  by  the  citizens  of  New  Orleans  to 
represent  them  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  and 
by  the  Radicals  denied  a  seat. 


NEW    ENGLAND    DINNER    AT    THE'  ST.    CHARLES. 

When  the  clouds  of  discontent  were  bursting  forth  in 
every  part  of  the  land,  Mr.  Barker's  confidence  in  the 
stability  of  the  Government  remained  unchanged.  The 
privileges  of  its  citizens  were  so  great  and  the  duties  so 
light  than  none  felt  the  weight  of  the  Government  but 
those  who  fattened  upon  its  lucrative  offices.  The  liberty 
of  speech  and  of  the  press  was  perfect,  our  religion  was 
left  to  our  own  choice,  we  pursued  our  various  occupa- 


ITS   CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  35 

tions  without  annoyance,  making  it  the  manifest  interest 
of  all  to  wish  and  labor  for  the  preservation  of  the  Union. 

At  a  New  England  festival,  held  at  the  St.  Charles 
Hotel  in  New  Orleans  on  the  22d  December,  1859,  the 
anniversary  of  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims,  many  speeches 
were  made,  full  of  apprehension  for  the  future,  and  at 
which  Mr.  Barker  spoke,  the  following  report  of  which 
we  find  in  the  papers  at  that  time  : 

'After  many  toasts  and  speeches  from  members,  the 
venerable  Jacob  Barker  being  called  on,  remarked  that 
he  had  been  honored  by  an  invitation  from  the  president, 
some  days  since,  to  address  the  meeting,  which  from  age 
and  other  considerations  he  was  constrained  to  decline, 
and  came  unprepared  to  say  a  word  beyond  offering  a 
sentiment,  which  he  did  in  the  words  following  : 

"Virginia  and  Massachusetts — twin  sisters — they  can 
never  be  separated  by  the  Fanatics  of  the  North  nor  the 
Fire-eaters  of  the  South." 

Mr.  Barker  said — • 

"Although  admonished  by  the  lateness  of  the  hour  and 
the  eloquent  appeals  to  the  patriotism  of  Northerners  and 
others  to  adhere  to  such  determination,  yet  I  cannot  sub 
scribe  to  all  I  have  heard  this  evening,  and  I  beg  leave  to 
detain  you  a  few  moments,  late  as  it  is,  to  express  my 
dissent.  The  few  blossoms — indicating  my  approach  to 
the  grave — which  yet  deck  my  brow,  will  convince  my 
brethren  from  New  England  of  the  sincerity  of  my  re 
marks.  First,  it  appears  to  me  that  our  worthy  president 
seems  to  be  unnecessarily  alarmed  for  the  safety  of  the 


36  THE   REBELLION: 

Tnion — like  his  namesake,  the  elder  Adams,  he  thinks 
we  have  fallen  on   evil  times — he  seems  to  sympathise 
with  the  sage  of  Quincy.     I  have  no  such  apprehension. 
I  witnessed   the  Whisky  Insurrection  of  the  Keystone 
State  under  Washington,  to  quell  which  our  troops  were 
sent,  under  the  advice  of  Gen.  Alexander  Hamilton,  one 
of  the  first  men  of  that  age.     [Cheers.]     The  work  was 
accomplished  without  the  burning  of  gunpowder  ;  not  a 
drop  of  human  blood  was  spilt,  not  a  crimson  spot  was  to 
be  found  on  any  garment.    Then  came  the  administration 
of  Adams,  with  whom  there  were  sad  dissensions.     Then 
came  the  election  of  the  illustrious  Jefferson,  which  agi 
tated   the  whole  Nation.      The  pious  old  women  were 
made  to  believe  that  if  the  French  Jacobins,  so  denomi 
nated  by  their  political  opponents,  and  of  whom  I  was 
one,    [laughter,]    succeeded,    the   churches    and   pulpits 
would  be  demolished  and  their  bibles  burned.     We  tri 
umphed,   and  no  such  calamity  resulted ;  the  churches 
remained  undestroyed,  the  pulpits  continued  to  be  graced 
with  clerical  robes,  and  the  sacred  bibles  circulated  as 
freely  as  ever.     [Laughter  and  cheers.]     Then  came  the 
glorious  war  of  1812,  in  which  I  witnessed  the  flight  of 
our   troops   through   Washington    from    Bladensburg — 
fleeing  with  them  myself,  [laughter,]  earring  with  me, 
by  the  command  of  Mrs.  Madison,  the  original  portrait 
of  Washington   by  Stewart,      [Applause.]      The    army 
halted  at  Montgomery  Courthouse,  without  a  pound  of 
beef  or  bread  to  subsist  on  ;  the  United  States  Treasury 
empty;  Treasury  notes    and  stock  dividends  maturing, 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  37 

unpaid.  Then  came  the  demonstration  against  the  Con 
stitution,  at  Charleston,  S.  C.,  which  was  snuffed  out  by 
the  renowned  Jackson  without  shedding  a  drop  of  human 
blood.  [Applause.] 

"All  these  lowering  clouds  have  been  dispelled  without 
moving  a  single  plank  in  our  excellent  Constitution. 
[Applause.]  I  could  enumerate  many  other  stirring 
events,  were  there  time,  which  would  admonish  us  not 
to  be  afraid  when  there  is  not  any  danger.  I  have  never 
been  afraid  of  my  fellow-men,  and  it  is  too  late  for  me 
to  encourage  that  feeling.  We  have  only  to  *  be  just  and 
fear  not.'  [Cheers.] 

"Great  confidence  is  felt  in  the  influence  of  the  advice 
of  the  immaculate  Washington;  the  inimitable  Father  of 
our  common  country,  in  his  Farewell  Address ;  and  also, 
in  the  patriotic  feelings  of  all  good  men — a  theme  which 
politicians  delight  to  dwell  on.  My  experience  tells  me 
that  we  have  a  much  more  powerful  guarantee  for  the 
preservation  of  the  Constitution  in  the  influence  of  the 
"almighty  dollar."  [Laughter.]  My  countrymen  have 
a  keen  appetite  therefor,  and  know  full  well  that  if  there 
should  be  a  division  of  the  Union  their  ships  would  be 
prohibited  an  entrance  into  Southern  ports,  and  conse 
quently  would  become  worthless.  The  Southerners  would 
impose  heavy  import  duties  on  the  shoes,  clothes  and 
other  fabrics  of  New  England — giving  a  preference  to 
foreign  articles.  This  would  be  done  for  the  double  pur 
pose  of  revenue  for  defraying  the  expenses  of  carrying 
on  their  new  government  and  for  revenge.  This  would 


38  THE    REBELLION : 

put  to  sleep  the  looms,  spindles  and  jennies  of  New  Eng 
land,  and  throw  out  of  employment  a  thousand  pretty 
girls.  [Laughter  and  cheers.]  We  Southerners  also 
keep  a  sharp  look-out  for  our  interest,  and  our  appetite 
for  gain  is  equally  keen.  [Applause.] 

"We  know  full  well  that  our  slaves  would  not  be  worth 
the  clothes  they  wear  if  the  Union  should  be  dissolved. 
Their  value  consists  in  the  preservation  of  Southern 
rights,  as  guaranteed  by  the  Constitution.  Should  it  be 
vacated  by  a  division  of  the  Union,  the  Northern  section 
would  imitate  their  cousins,  the  British — making  all  free 
who  would  put  their  feet  on  their  soil.  This  would  de 
populate  the  border  States  of  their  slave  population,  and 
they  would,  one  after  another,  become  free  States,  until 
not  one  would  be  left  to  tell  how  it  happened. 

"Mr.  President,  in  that  evenfc,  our  only  redress  would 
be  war,  in  which  conflict  the  odds  would  be  in  favor  of 
the  North,  on  account  of  their  superior  numbers,  and  the 
necessity  of  guarding  our  slaves  ;  and  further,  all  must 
admit  that  our  importance  as  a  nation  depends  on  the 
preservation  of  the  Union.  I  repeat,  we  have  only  to 
'be  just  and  fear  not,'  and  all  will  remain  safe." 

It  must  be  acknowledged  that  Mr.  Barker  placed  too 
high  an  estimate  upon  the  influence  of  the  "almighty 
dollar/'  or  of  the  people's  intelligence  in  calculating  the 
cost  and  consequences  of  a  war. 


SPEECH    AT    ODD    FELLOWS'    HALL. 

Mr.  Barker  exerted  himself  to  the  utmost  of  his  capa- 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  .  39 

city  to  avert  this  unfortunate  war,  and  when  declared,  to 
bring  it  to  a  speedy  termination. 

At  the  great  meeting  of  merchants,  mechanics  and 
others  at  the  Odd  Fellows7  Hall,  he  spoke  in  substance 
thus  : 

•"  FELLOW-CITIZENS — I  am  not  come  here  to  denounce 
any  man  or  any  party,  or  to  utter  an  unkind  word — the 
subject  is  too  grave. 

"The  canvas  of  my  ships  has  whitened  every  sea,  un 
furling  to  the  breeze  of  every  clime  the  Star  Spangled 
Banner,  the  glittering  emblem  of  our  Union  and  inde 
pendence,  of  which  every  American  citizen,  native  and 
adopted,  is  justly  proud.  If  compelled  to  give  it  up,  I 
would  attend  its  funeral  clad  in  habiliments  of  woe. 

"We  are  now  called  on  to  haul  down  that  glorious 
emblem  of  our  greatness,  bequeathed  to  us  by  Washing 
ton,  Franklin,  Jefferson,  Madison,  Hamilton  and  other 
departed  spirits  of  the  Revolution,  and  to  substitute 
therefor  an  unknown  standard  called  the  Palmetto  Flag, 
at  the  bidding  of  the  State  of  South  Carolina,  because  the 
institutions  of  the  South,  on  the  maintenance  of  which 
our  wealth,  happiness  and  national  importance  depend, 
have  been  outraged  by  some  of  the  Northern  States. 
However  true  this  may  be,  and  no  one  disputes  it,  is  it  fit 

> 

and  becoming  that  a  single  small  State,  less  interested 
than  most  of  the  others,  should  dictate  to  all  the  slave 
States  the  sacrifices  to  be  made  and  the  course  to  be  pur 
sued  for  obtaining  security  and  redress  ?  I  say  it  is  not  ; 
that  it  belongs  to  the  people  of  those  States  to  decide 


40  THE    REBELLION: 

when  called  on  by  a  convention  of  delegates  from  all  the 
slave  States  to  vote  on  the  question. 

"If  such  a  convention  should  mature  a  plan  for  a  sepa 
rate  Confederacy,  and  a  majority  of  legal  voters  should 
ratify  it,  the  minority  would  acquiesce  and  yield  a  hearty 
support,  when  the  united  power  of  the  slave  States  would 
be  irresistible.  We  should  continue  to  hold  Washington, 
and  all  the  machinery  of  the  Government,  preserving  the 
Stars  and  Stripes,  leaving  the  free  States  to  form  a  con 
federacy  of  their  own,  with  a  new  capital  beyond  Mason 
and  Dixon's  line. 

"If  a  majority  of  such  a  convention  should  decide  to 
endeavor  to  effect  a  compromise,  before  adopting  the 
plan  of  trying  which  could  do  the  other  the  most  harm, 
then  in  adjusting  the  terms  all  the  slave  States  should 
have  a  voice — no  one  should  be  allowed  to  dictate. 

"  If  war  should  be  the  melancholy  result,  the  people 

*t 

have  to  do  the  lighting  and  to  furnish  the  sinews  of  war. 
It  is,  therefore,  right  and  proper  that  they  should  be 
consulted  ;  hence,  I  say,  let  there  be  a  convention  of 
delegates  from  all  the  slave  States,  and  the  result  of  their 
deliberations  submitted  to  the  citizens  of  those  States, 
and  so  far  as  I  am  concerned,  I  pledge  myself  to  support 
whatever  decision  a  majority  may  arrive  at,  to  which 
every  friend  of  Louisiana  will  subscribe. 

"Fellow-citizens,  I  bid  you  beware  how  you  send  your 
Ship  of  State  to  sea  without  rudder,  compass  or  pilot.  I 
have  sent  too  many  ships  to  sea  to  be  willing  to  recom- 


ITS   CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  41 

mend  the  placing  of  the  finest  bark  in  the  Confederation 
in  so  perilous  a  position. 

"Separate  secession  cannot  be  viewed  in  any  other 
light." 

AN    APPEAL   TO   THINKING    MEN. 

NEW  ORLEANS,  December  IT,  I860. 
To  the,  Editors  of  the  Picayune: 

Gentlemen — My  opinions  on  the  unfortunate,  uncalled 
for  and  calamitous--  state  of  public  affairs  correspond  so 
exactly  with  those  expressed  in  the  accompanying  articles 
from  the  Natchez  (Miss.)  Daily  Courier,  that  I  think  I 
cannot  dp  my  fellow-citizens  better  service,  on  this  eighty- 
first  anniversary  of  my  birth,  than  by  having  them  re- 
published. 

Yery  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

JACOB  BARKER. 


[From  the  Natchez  Daily  Courier,  Nov.  17,  I860.] 

HAVE    WE  EXHAUSTED    OUR    CONSTITUTIONAL    REMEDIES  ? 
NUMBER  ONE. 

To  say  the  least  of  it,  the  right  of  secession  is  an  ex 
tremely  doubtful  one.  The  ablest  and  wisest  of  the 
constitutional  fathers  were  against  it.  Madison,  with 
emphatic' exactness,  called  it  "an  extra  and  ultra  consti 
tutional  remedy.7'  The  State  of  Mississippi,  acting  in 
her  sovereign  capacity,  has  declared  it  to  be  a  doctrine 
unsanctioned  by  the  Constitution.  Outside  of  South 
Carolina,  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  people  of  a  single 
Southern  State  would  vote  affirmatively  that  the  right  of 


42  THE  REBELLION: 

peaceable  secession  exists.  Xo  such  right  is  granted  in 
the  Constitution  ;  no  such  right  can  be  among  the  powers 
reserved  to  the  States  or  to  the  people  ;  for,  to  use  Judge 
Boyd's  expressive  language,  "a  reservation  necessarily 
implies  the  pre-existence  of  that  which  is  reserved.  The 
States  were  about  dividing  out  the  powers  of  Govern 
ment,  a  part  to  their  separate  State  Governments,  and  a 
part  to  the  General  Government,  and  they  expressly  re 
served  out  of  the  existing  mass  all  the  residue.  If  they 
were  not  at  that  time  in  being,  they  were  not  and  could 
not  be  reserved.  A  right  to  break  a  contract  not  yet 
made,  or  to  destroy  ,a  government  not  yet  formed,  did 
not  belong  to  a  State  before  she  became  a  party  to  such 
contract  or  government.7'  Xor  is  such  a  right  at  all  com 
patible  with  one  of  the  main  designs  of  the  Constitution, 
which  was  "to  form  a  more  perfect  Union"  out  of  the 
"perpetual  Union"  declared  to  exist  by  the  articles  of 
confederation. 

But  even  were  this  right  of  secession  clear  and  imdis-» 
putcd,  would  it  be  justifiable  to  exercise  it,  until  every 
remedy  for  wrong,  which,  the  Constitution  now  gives  us, 
has  been  exhausted  ?  Grant  the  fact  that  half  a  dozen  or 
more  Northern  States,  under  the  influence  of  fanaticism 
and  hatred,  have  violated  the  Constitution  by  their  per 
sonal  liberty  laws ;  grant  that  many  of  them  are  doing- 
all  they  can  to  annoy,  irritate,  and  wound  the  States  of 
the  South,  and  to  make  the  bonds  of  Union  as  disagree 
able  as  possible ;  grant  that  they,  have  sectionally  com 
bined  to  get  possession  of  the  Government,  and  have  so 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  EEC.  43 

far  succeeded  as  to  elect  a  President  and  Vice  President 
—grant  all  this ;  still,  have  we  exhausted  all  the  remedies 
for  aggression  the  Constitution  gives  us?  and  if  we  have 
not,  then,  until  we  do  so,  are  we  morally  justifiable  in 
exercising  the  doubtful  -right  of  secession,  or  even  the 
unquestioned  right  of  revolution?  These  are  serious 
questions,  and  must  occur  to  every  reflecting  mind.  If 
we  have  exhausted  all  remedies  under  the  present  Con 
stitution,  and  can  no  longer  live  under  it  honorably  and 
safely,  the  North  must  consent  to  new  remedies  being 
given  us,  and  to  new  guarantees  for  protection,  or  the 
Union  must  be  broken  up. 

But  let  us  seejwhethcr  we   have   or  have  "not  so  ex 
hausted   them.      The   Constitution  is  an   instrument  of 
checks  and  balances.    'For  instance  :  the  legislative  power 
of  the  country,  vested  in  Congress,  cannot  be   exercised 
without  the  assent  of  the   Executive  •  or  in  case  of  his 
dissent,  only  with  the  assent  of  two-thirds  of  each  House, 
instead  of  a  bare  majority.      The   Executive  power  can 
convene  Congress ;    but  that  body  can  adjourn  without 
his  consent.     The  President  is  commander-in-chicf  of  the 
Army  and  Xavy ;  but  he  cannot  declare  war ;  Congress 
alone  can  do  that.      The  President  also   commands  the 
militia  of  the  several  States,  when  called  into  the  actual 
service  of  the   United  States  ;  but  the  calling  it  forth  is 
given  to  Congress,  as  well  as  its  organization,  arming  and 
discipline ;  while  the  appointment  of  its  officers  and  the 
authority  of  training  are  especially  reserved  to  the  States 
themselves.      The    President  makes  treaties;    but  only 


44  THE    REBELLION: 

with  the  concurrence  of  two-thirds  of  the  Senate.  He 
appoints  to  office,  but  only  when  the  Senate  confirms  his 
nominations. 

The  power  to  convene  Congress ;  to  grant  reprieves 
and  pardons ;  to  temporarily  fill  vacancies  in  office ;  to 
give  information  and  make  recommendations  to  Congress, 
and  to  receive  ambassadors,  comprise  about  all  the  Presi 
dent  can  legitimately  do,  without  the  concurrence  of  one 
or  both  branches  of  the  Federal  Legislature,  and  for  ille 
gitimate  acts,  he  can  be  impeached  by  the  House  before 
the  Senate.  The  judiciary,  it  is  true,  is  independent.  Its 
members  hold  office  during  good  behavior ;  but  the  direct 
operation  6f  their  decisions  is  only  on  the  particular  case 
in  issue.  The  judges  cannot  legislate  at  all,  and  can  only 
Execute  their  edicts  by  the  arm  of  officers  appointed  by 
the  President  and  Senate. 

Thus  it  would  seem  that  by  the  wisdom  of  our  ances 
tors,  the  Constitution  was  framed  to  be  one  of  complete 
checks  and  balances ;  to  preserve  the  rights  of  the  States, 
and  the  property  and  liberty  of  the  citizen ;  to  prevent 
the  encroachment  of  one  department  upon  the  other  ;  and 
to  insure  that  neither  States  nor  people  should  suffer 
material  injury  from  the  Federal  Government,  until  all 
three  departments  united  in  the  wrong ;  until  a  Senate 
merely  confirmed  executive  mandates ;  until  Congress 
should  be  a  willing  abettor  of  executive  wrong,  and  a 
venial  judiciary  should  surrender  its  independence  to 
both  the  other  branches. 

Under  what  wrongs  do  we  now  rest,  emanating  from 


ITS   CONSEQUENCES,  ETC. 

the  Federal  Government?  Certainly  no  legislative  en 
actments  ;  because  the  South  has  been  for  years  back 
guiding  and  directing  the  enactments  that  have  been 
passed ;  nor  unless  the  South  deserts  its  post  can  these 
enactments  be  touched  within  the  next  four  years.  We 
have  a  stringent  fugitive  slave  law,  and  even  Lincoln  says 
we  are  entitled  to  it,  and  it  shall  be  enforced.  As  far  as 
Federal  legislation  can  do  it,  Utah,  New  Mexico,  Kansas 
and  Nebraska,  have  been  opened  to  our  peculiar  institu 
tions  ;  nor  has  any  Southern  member  (except  Governor 
Brown)  asked,  nor  has  the  Democracy  allowed,  that  the 
adverse  legislative  action  of  the  Territory  of  Kansas 
should  be  repealed.  So  far  as  Federal  legislation  is  con 
cerned,  the  South  has  no  just  complaint.  Nor  can  it 
complain  of  judicial  encroachment.  The  Dred  Scott  de 
cision  is  a  tower  of  strength,  and  must  remain  so. 

But  the  secessionist  will  reply  :  ' '  Abolitionism  has 
obtained  control  over  one  department  of  the  Government, 
It  has  elected  a  President."  The  answer  is  easy,  my 
friend.  The  Constitution  was  designed  to  apply  to  pre 
cisely  such  a  case.  Not  merely  is  the  President  powerless 
except  to  convene  Congress  if  he  chooses,  to  grant  re 
prieves  and  to  fill  temporarily  any  vacancies  that  may 
occur  in  office,  but  the  wheels  of  Government  can  also, 
under  the  Constitution,  be  stopped  upon  him  at  once,  by 
both  Senate  and  House,  unless  lie  pursues  a  National  and 
conservative  course.  If  to  carry  out  the  purpose  of  the 
Abolition  faction,  he  selects  his  advisers  and  officers  from 
its 'ranks,  let  the  Senate  perform  its  duty  firmly,  and  say. 


46  THE  REBELLION: 

it  shall  not  be  done.  If  he  is  a  Republican,  it  is  Demo 
cratic  and  Opposition.  If  he  nominates  bad  men,  it  can 
reject  them.  It  can  sit  in  the  Senate  Chamber  from 
March  4,  1861,  until  the  day  of  its  next  session,  and 
President  Lincoln  cannot  free  himself  from  its  constitu 
tional  control.  If  he  is  true  to  faction,  let  the  Senate  be 
true  to  the  country.  It  should  be  the  glory  of  its  mem 
bers  that  they  are  sentinels  on  the  watchtower,  and  only 
traitors  will  desert  their  post  in  the  presence  of  the 
enemy.  Let  the  Senate  tell  the  President  frankly,  "You 
must  nominate  conservative  and  National  men,  or  we  will 
reject  your  nominations.  If  it  leaves  you  without  a  Cab 
inet,  and  the  country  with  only  a  part  of  its  officers — so 
be  it." 

He  cannot  remove  one  from  office  during  the  session  of 
the  Senate,  except  by  appointing  another  to  office,  and 
that  can  only  be  done  with  the  Senatorial  consent.  Here 
is  the  very  check  the  Constitution  provides ;  here  is  one 
safety  of  the  South.  Let  it  be  cherished  and  exercised  ; 
not  abandoned  or  neglected  !  '  Mr.  Lincoln  is  then  power 
less  for  mischief,  without  the  Senate's  consent  or  conni 
vance,  until  December,  1861.  He  may  have  the  empty 
honor  of  being  commander-in-chief,  but  he  cannot  declare 
war  or  call  out  the  militia ;  he  may  nominate,  but  cannot 
appoint ;  he  may  negotiate,  but  cannot  make  a  treaty. 

We  are  also  safe  after  December,  1861.  At  that  time 
he  meets  an  anti-Republican  Congress.  For  legislative 
purpose  he  and  his  faction  are  powerless  during  its  term. 
Xay,  more;  should  he  persist  in  using  executive  influ- 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  47 

ence  to  carry  out  the  combination  which  the  North  has 
attempted  to  make  against  the  South,  besides  refusing  to 
repeal  existing  legislation,  or  to  listen  favorably  to  legis 
lative  recommendations  he  may  make,  Congress  can,  if 
necessary,  adopt  that  last  and  most  efficient  check  which 
a,  British  Parliament  has  upon  an  administration  it  detests 
—  it  can  stop  the  supplies.  If  it  stop  the  wheels  of  Gov 
ernment  temporarily — better  that,  than  to  dissolve  the 
Union,  while  one  reasonable  chance  is  left  for  its  main 
tenance.  The  President  and  the  North  must  give  way, 
or  the  Government  will  be  compelled  to  pause  ;  it  can  go 
on  again  when,  and  only  when  a  spirit  of  justice  and 
Constitutional  equality  resumes  its  sway  in  executive 
councils  and  in  Northern  legislative  halls. 

These  are  checks,  legitimate,  constitutional,  allowable, 
which  the  South  now  holds ;  which  she  voluntarily  aban 
dons,  if  she  secedes.  Has  she  exhausted  them  ?  Has  she 
yet  tried  them?^  If  she  has  not,  is  she  justifiable  in  at 
once  adopting  the  last  resort  of  sovereigns  ?  It  will  be 
folly ;  it  will  be  madness ;  it  will  be  criminal,  if  she  does. 

But  we  shall  be  told  that  these  doings  will  only  post 
pone  the  issue  two,  or  pcrhap>s,  four  years,  and  then  the 
South  will  be  weaker.  It  is  a  great  mistake.  The  South 
will  then  be  stronger,  because  she  will  be  united.  Nine 
millions  of  intelligent  people  never  can  be  weak.  Re 
sist  now,  secede  now,  and  we  are  divided  here  at  home  ! 
It  will  not  do  for  forty  thousand  men,  by  a  popular  vote, 
to  declare  thirty  thousand  fellow-citizens  traitors,  or  to 
IP., ike  them  unwilling  or  dissatisfied  friends.  To  be 


48  THE  REBELLION: 

strong,  we  must  be  united ;  to  be  united,  we  must  be 
right ;  and  we  cannot  be  right  in  making  a  revolution 
until  we  have  exhausted  all  the  remedies  the  present 
Constitution  gives. 

But  w*e  shall  be  stronger  another  wTay.  In  the  mean 
time,  a  convention  of  all  the  States  can  be  called ;  not  a 
sectional,  but  a  National  body.  There  the  rightful  de 
mands  of  the  South  can  be  presented  ;  there  the  fifteen 
States  can  tell  their  eighteen  sisters  that  under  the  Con 
stitution  the  latter  have  no  right  to  combine,  and  will  not 
be  allowed  to  combine,  against  them ;  that  the  combina 
tion,  while  it  lasts,  shall  be  resisted,  within  the  Union 
and  under  the  Constitution,  by  every  means  the  latter 
allows.  They  can  tell  them  that  it  is  not  the  man,  Lin 
coln,  they  fear,  but  the  principle,  combination  to  aggress, 
which  they  resist ;  that  Government  must  and  shall  stop 
unless  the  President  acts  Nationally ;  that  if  that  combi 
nation  goes  further,  and  obtains  possession,  of  the  legisla 
tive  department,  as  well  as  of  the  executive,  then,  the 
present  Constitution  having  proved  inefficient  to  protect 
the  principle  of  equality  among  the  States,  new  guaran 
tees  must  be  •  yielded  by  the  North,  or  the  compact  of 
Union  must  be  dissolved  by  joint  consent.  In  these  and 
such  measures,  we  shall  be  united  at  the  South ;  we  shall 
present  one  firm  and  united  front  to"  the  North,  instead 
of  as  now  jarring  and  distracted  counsels. 

Nay,  more ;  the  popular  majority  of  Republicanism  at 
the  North,  over  all  its  opponents,  is  but  small — perhaps 
hardly  300,000,  in  a  poll  of  nearly  3,500,000.  Will  not 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  49 

the  conservative  men  there  again  rally,  when  they  realize 
what  we  are  doing  under  the  Constitution  to  resist  ag 
gression,  and  that  if  those  endeavors  fail,  what  we  shall 
do  outside  of  its  influences  and  commands  ?  Precipitation 
and  rashness  will  weaken  our  cause  and  our  influence. 
A  manly  determination  to  resist  within  the  Union,  and 
under  the  great  organic  law,  as  long  as  resistance  can  be 
efficacious,  will  commend  itself  to  every  patriot  heart  that 
respects  the  Constitution  and  loves  the  Union,  and  that 
does  not  desire  the  Government  to  become  a  final  wreck. 

We  shall  be  no  worse  off  then  than  now,  as  far  as  the 
North  is  concerned.  At  home,  we  shall  be  better  off, 
because  we  shall  be  united.  We  shall  have  the  glory  and 
the  pride  of  being  right ;  of  having  exhausted  all  the 
protective,  peaceful  and  legitimate  means  the  Constitution 
affords,  before  resorting  to  those  extra  and  ultra  consti 
tutional  remedies  which  only  become  rightful  when  abso 
lutely  necessary. 

These  ideas  have  been  thrown  together  hastily.  We 
ask  for  them  a  patient  and  attentive  perusal.  We  all 
owe  our  country  much ;  and  most  of  all,  to  think  well  and 
listen  to  all  that  can  be  said  before  we  strike  a  blow  at 
her  continued  existence.  We  hope  to  be  able,  on  Tues 
day  next,  to  present  to  our  readers  other  thoughts  in 
connection  with  the  above,  and  in  a  more  carefully  pre 
pared  and  elaborate  form. 


50  THE   REBELLION: 

[From  the  Natchez  Daily  Courier,  Nov.  21,  I860.] 
HAVE    WE    EXHAUSTED   OUR   CONSTITUTIONAL   REMEDIES? 

NUMBER  Two. 
THE   AGGRESSIONS   WE   COMPLAIN   OF. 

The  South,  we  fear,  (or  at  least  too  large  a  number  of 
its  good  and  thinking  men,)  is  acting  upon  an  impulse, 
rather  than  from  sound  judgment  and 'clear  deliberation. 
Rash  men  are  getting  ahead  even  of  their  own  States ; 
inflaming  public  sentiment,  rather  than  reasoning  with  it ; 
and  driving  it  on,  rather  than  guiding  it.  While  yet  no 
State  has  acted  in  its  sovereign  capacity,  we  find  mem 
bers  of  Congress  and  United  States  officers  throwing  up 
their  offices,  raising  colonial  flags,  wearing  colonial  cock 
ades,  and  doing  every  act  possible,  short  of  actual  treason, 
to  show  their  contempt  for  the  authority  or  the  perpetuity 
of  the  Union.  Here,  in  the  Southwest,  the  great  danger 
is  not  that  Mississippi  or  Louisiana  will  of  themselves 
prefer  revolution,  but  that  the  secession  of  one  State  will 
almost  unavoidably  drag  others  into  the  vortex  of  dis 
union.  The  lower  tier  of  Southern  States  is  so  linked 
together  in  feeling,  and  so  excited  at  the  stand  the  North 
has  seen  fit  to  take,  that  however  diverse  or  antagonistic 
their  interests  may  hereafter  be,  should  they  attempt  a 
new  and  distinct  government  for  themselves,  the  ordinary 
sympathy  that  aggression  ever  produces  »among  those  who 
are  its  subjects,  is  having  a  tendency  to  place  the  South, 
from  Georgia  to  Texas,  by  the  side  of  Carolina.  Deeply 
as  it  may  be  regretted,  as  a  single  spark  often  causes  the 
explosion  of  a  mine,  so  one  single  rash  movement  may 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  51 

convert  a  half-dozen  of  yet  conservative  States  into  open 
and  avowed  revolutionary  organizations. 

Can  this  be  avoided  ?  We  believe  it  can.  How  ?  By 
good  men  avoiding  extremes,  by  counselling  prudence 
instead  of  rashness,  and  by  a  careful  examination  of  the 
question  as  to  whether  wef  have  yet  remedies  within  the 
Union,  and  under  the  Constitution,  for  the  evils  that  at 
present  surround  the  country.  If  we  have  them,  as  yet 
untried  but  still  powerful,  let  us  not  give  up  a  country 
that  a  Washington  founded,  and  a  long  line  of  patriots, 
consecrated  to  "Liberty  and  Union,  now  and  forever,  one 
and  inseparable." 

To  ascertain  precisely  the  nature  of  the  aggression 
made  upon  the  South,  and  the  means  within  the  Con 
stitution  for  its  successful  overthrow,  our  readers  must 
permit  an  historical  retrospect. 

Comparatively  a  few  years  have  elapsed — hardly  more 
than  a  generation — since  undeniably  the  sentiment  of  the 
Christian  world  was  against  the  institution  of  slavery. 
England  and  France  abolished  it  within  their  dominions. 
Here  in  the  United  States,  even  at  the  South,  it  was  gen 
erally  acknowledged  to  be  an  evil — made  the  best  of 
rather  than  encouraged — excused,  rather  than  justified. 
The  anti-slavery  sentiment  commenced  its  attack  upon 
the  institution  by.  appealing  to  the  religious  feeling,  and 
by  denying  that  Christians  could  rightfully  hold  or  enjoy 
that  species  of  property.  The  self-interest  of  the  Chris 
tians  and  church  members  of  the  South  at  length 
prompted  their  examination  of  the  subject — to  know 


52  THE   REBELLION: 

whether  this  was  so  or  not.      And  what  was  the  result  ? 
Let  us  answer  it  in  the  words  of  Dr.  F.  A.  Ross  : 

"  Speaking,  then,  from  that  region  where  '  cotton  is  king,' 
I  affirm,  contrary  as  my  opinion  is  to  that  most  common 
in  the  South,  that  the  slavery  agitation  has  accomplished 
and  will  do  great  good.      I  said  so  to   ministerial  and 
political  friends,  twenty-five  years  ago.     I  have  always 
favored  the  agitation — just  as  I  have  always  countenanced 
discussion  upon  all  subjects.     I  felt  that  the  slavery  ques 
tion  needed  examination.     I  believed  it  was  not  under 
stood  in  its  relations  to  the  Bible  and  human  liberty. 
Sir,  the  light  is  spreading  North  and  South.    The  political 
controversy,  however  fierce  and*  threatening,  is  only  for 
power.      But  the  moral  agitation  is  for  the  harmony  of 
the  Northern  and  Southern  mind,  in  the  right  interpreta 
tions  of  Scripture  on  this  great  subject,  and,  of  course, 
for  the  ultimate  union  of  the  hearts  of  all  sensible  people 
to  fulfill  God's  intention — to  bless  the  white  man  and  the 
black  man  in  America.     I  am  sure  of  this.     I  take  a  wide 
view  of  the  progress  of  the  destiny  of  this  vast  empire. 
I  see  God  in  America.    I  see  him  in  the  North  and  in  the 
South.     I  see  him  more  honored  in  the  South  to-day  than 
he  was  twenty-five  years  ago;  and 'that  that  higher  re 
gard  is  due  mainly  to  the  agitation  of  the  slavery  ques 
tion.     Do  you  ask  how  ?     Why,   sir,   this  is  the  how  : 
Twenty-five  years  ago  the  religious  mind  of  the   South 
was  leavened  by  wrong  Northern  training,  on  the  great 
point  of  the  right  and  wrong  of  slavery.      Meanwhile, 
powerful  intellects  in  the  South,  following  the  mere  light 


ITS*  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  55 

of  a  healthy  good  sense,  guided  by  the  common  grace  of 
God,  reached  the  very  truth  of  this  great  matter- 
namely,  that  the  relation  of  the  master  and  slave  is  not 
sin ;  and  that,  notwithstanding  its  admitted  evils,  it  is  a 
connection  between  the  highest  and  the  lowest  races  of 
man,  revealing  influences  which  may  be,  and  will  be/ 
most  benevolent  for  the  ultimate  good  of  the  master  and 
the  slave — conservative  on  the  Union,  by  preserving  the 
South  from  all  forms  of  Northern  fanaticism,  and  thereby 
being  a  great  balance  wheel  in  the  working  of  the  tre 
mendous  machinery  of  our  experiment  of  self-government. 
This  seen  result  of  slavery  *vas  found  to  be  in  absolute 
harmony  with  the  Word  of  God.  These  men,  then,  of 
highest  grade  of  thought,  who  had  turned  in  scorn  from 
Xorthern  notions,  now  see,  in  the  Bible,  that  these  no 
tions  are  false  and  silly.  They  now  read  the  Bible,  never 
examined  before,  with  growing  respect.  God  is  honored, 
and  His  glory  will  be  more  and  more  in  their  salvation. 
These  are  some  of  the  moral  consummations  of  this  agita 
tion  in  the  South.  The  development  has  been  two-fold 
in  the  North.  On  the  one  hand,  some  anti-slavery  men 
have  left  the  light  of  the  Bible,  and  wandered  into  the 
darkness  until  they  have  reached  the  blackness  of  the 
darkness  of  infidelity.  Other  some  are  following  hard 
after,  and  are  throwing  the  Bible  into  the  furnace — are 
melting  'it  into  iron,  and  forging  it,  and  welding  it,  and 
twisting  it,  and  grooving  it  into  the  shape  and  significance 
and  goodness  and  gospel  of  Sharpens  rifles.  Sir,  are  you 
not  afraid  that  some  of  your  once  best  men  will  soon  have 
no  better  Bible  than  that  ? 


04  THE    REBELLION: 

''But,  on  the  other  hand,  many  of  your  brightest  minds 
are  looking  intensely  at  the  subject,  in  the  same  light  in 
which  it  is  studied  by  the  highest  Southern  reason.  Ay. 
sir,  mother  England,  old  fogy  as  she  is,  begins  to  open 
her  eyes." 

Self-interest  thus  taught  Christians  at  the  South  to  ex 
amine.  Examination  of  the  Bible  ;  of  history,  sacred  and 
profane ;  and  of  the  moral  economy  of  the  races,  con 
vinced  them  not  merely  of  the  lawfulness  of  the  institu 
tion  of  slavery,  but  that  it  was  one  of  the  instrumentalities 
of  God  in  enabling  man  to  work  out  the  great  problem 
of  humanity.  The  Southerrf  mind  became  a  unit  upon 
the  question.  From  doubting,  it  learned  to  assert  the 
morality  and  the.  positive  utility  of  the  relation,  and  by 
degrees,  that  feeling  has  operated  upon  the  North  also, 
until  some  of  its  leading  minds  have  been  led  to  the  same 
conclusions. 

Fearing  the  extensions  of  these  views,  the  anti-slavery 
sentiment  of  the  North  resolved  to  arouse  new  agencies. 
It  at  once  entered  the  field  of  politics ;  and  well  has  it 
played  its  game.  It  has  managed  to  bring  within  its 
meshes  finally  the  great  majority  of  the  North,  and  unite 
almost  every  Northern  State  in  a  combination  against  the 
South.  Such  a  combination  is  the  direst  blow  they  could 
have  struck  against  the  Government  of  their  country. 
Say  what  we  may,  the  principle  of  equality  among  the 
States  is  preserved  throughout  our  great  organic  law.  In 
the  Senate,  all  the  States  are  equal.  In  the  election  of  a 
President,  Delaware  has  her  two  Senatorial  added  to  her 


ITS   CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  55 

one  Representative  vote  ;  precisely  as  New  York  has  only 
her  two  Senatorial,  added  to  her  thirty-three  Representa 
tive  votes.  In  the  House  of  Representatives,  Delaware 
has  only  the  thirty-third  part  of  New  York's  influence  ; 
in  the  Electoral  College,  she  exercises  one-twelfth  part  of 
that  influence ;  in  the  Senate  she  is  Xew  York's  equal. 
To  preserve  these  rights  of  £he  States  and  these  rights  of 
the  people ;  to  let  sovereign  organizations  have  their  due 
weight  in  one  body,  and  popular  numbers  their  due. 
weight  in  another,  while  the  influence  of  both  should  be 
combined  in  a  third,  the  complex  composition  of  the  ex 
ecutive  and  legislative  departments  that  distinguish  our 
Government  was  determined  on. 

Nor  can  it  be  doubted  that  this  principle  of  combina 
tion  of  some  States  against  others — of  one  section  of  the 
Union  against  the  other,  (no  matter  for  what  purpose,)  is 
the  highest  attack  that  can  be  made  upon  the  spirit  of 
our  Constitution.  View  the  case  irrespective  of  the 
question  of  slavery !  Nine  States  out  of  the  present 
thirty-three  cast  160  electoral  votes  of  the  303  composing 
the  college — a  majority  more  than  sufficient  to  elect  a 
President.  Suppose  that  those  nine  should  combine  to 
gether  for  local  or  special  purposes  of  their  own,  to  run  a 
Presidential  ticket,  irrespective  of  the  views  and  in  direct 
opposition  to  the  wishes  of  the  other  twenty-four  States, 
and  by  their  numerical  force  be  able  to  elect  it — parcel 
ing  out  the  offices,  and  avowing  that  they  intended  to 
continue  their  organization  until  they — the  nine — con 
trolled  all  legislation  over  the  thirty-three,  and  then 


56  THE   REBELLION: 

suppose,  in  addition,  that  this  was  done  in  positive  hos 
tility  to  domestic  institutions  upon  which  the  twenty-four 
States  depended,  and  in  which  their  every-day  interest 
was  vitally  concerned — would  not  the  twenty-four  minor 
ity  States  exclaim  that  this  combination  was  in  defiance 
of  the  spirit  and  meaning  of  the  Constitution,  and  that  it 
must  be  remedied  ?  Has  the^  North  ever  looked  on  the 
question  in  this  light  ?  It  was  to  such  a  combination  that 
Mr.  Fillmore  so  eloquently  referred  in  1856.  in  his  speech 
at  Albany.  Said  he  : 

"We  see  a  political  party  presenting  candidates  for  the 
Presidency  and  Yice-Presidency,  selected  for  the  first 
time  from  the  free  States  alone,  with  the  avowed  purpose 
of  electing  these  candidates  by  suffrages  of  one  part  of 
the  Union  only,  to  rule  over  the  whole  United  States. 
Can  it  be  possible  that  those  who  are  engaged  in  such  a 
measure  can  have  seriously  reflected  upon  the  conse 
quences  which  must  inevitably  follow,  in  case  of  success  ? 
Can  they  have  the  madness  or  the  folly  to  believe  that 
our  Southern  brethren  would  submit  to  be  governed  by 
such  a  Chief  Magistrate  ?  Would  he  not  be  required  to 
follow  the  same  rule  prescribed  by  those  who  elected 
him,  in  making  his  appointments  ?  If  a  man  living  south 
of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line  be  not  worthy  to  be  President 
or  Yice-President,  would  it  be  proper  to  select  one  from 
the  same  quarter  as  one  of  his  Cabinet  council,  or  to 
represent  the  Nation  in  a  foreign  country  ?  Or,  indeed, 
to  collect  the  revenue,  or  administer  the  laws  of  the 
United  States  ?  If  not,  what  new  rule  is  the  President 


ITS   CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  57 

to  adopt  in  selecting  men  for  office  that  the  people  them 
selves  discard  in  selecting  him?  These  are  serious,  but 
practical  questions,  and  in  order  to  appreciate  them  fully, 
it  is  only  necessary  to  turn  the  tables  upon  ourselves. 
Suppose  that  the  South,  having  a  majority  of  the  electoral 
votes,  should  declare  that  they  would  only  have  slave 
holders  for  President  and  Yice  President,  and  should 
elect  such,  by  their  exclusive  suffrages,  to  rule  over  us  at 
the  North.  Do  you  think  we  would  submit  to  it-?  ]STo, 
not  for  a  moment.  And  do  you  believe  that  your 
Southern  brethren  are  less  sensitive  on  this  subject  than 
you  are,  or  less  jealous  of  their  rights?  If  you  do,  let 
me  tell  you  that  you  are  mistaken.  And,  therefore,  you 
must  see  that  if  this  sectional  party  succeeds,  it  leads  in 
evitably  to  the  destruction  of  this  beautiful  fabric  reared 
by  our  forefathers,  cemented  by  their  blood,  and  be 
queathed  to  us  as  a  priceless  inheritance." 

But  where  would  the  twenty-four  States  go  for  a 
remedy  ?  To  the  Constitution  itself ;  and  they  would  be 
encouraged  in  the  search  by  the  writings  of  the  Fathers 
of  that  great  instrument.  Those  Fathers  saw  the  ten 
dencies  of  majorities  to  usurp  power;  to  aggress  upon  the 
spirit,  while  they  adhered  to  the  letter  of  the  law;  and 
they  made  the  Constitution,  for  this  very  purpose,  a  sys 
tem  of  checks  and  balances ;  so  that  the  rights  of  the 
States  could  be  preserved  through  the  Senate ;  those  of 
the  people  througli  the  House ;  and  that  the  usurpations 
that  a  combination  of  States  might  attempt  through  the 
Electoral  College,  could  be  overcome  by  the  power  the 


58  THE   REBELLION: 

representatives  of  the  State  and  the  people  could  exercise 
in  the  two  Houses  of  Congress,  singly  or  collectively. 

In  answering  the  question  as  to  the  expedients  possible 
for  practically  maintaining  the  necessary  partitions  of 
powe^  among  the  several  departments  of  Government, 
James  Madison,  in  the  Federalist,  (No.  71,)  after  demon 
strating  that  all  provisions  exterior  to  the  Constitution  were 
inadequate,  laid  down  the  principle  that  the  defect  should 
be  supplied  "by  so  contriving  the  interior  structure  of 
the  Government,  as  that  its  several  constituent  parts  may, 
ly  their  mutual  relations,  ~be  the  means  of  keeping  each  other 
in  their  proper  places"  And  in  substantiation  of  this, 
he  says : 

;<In  the  compound  Republic  of  America,  the  power  sur 
rendered  by  the  people  is  first  divided  between  two  distinct 
governments,  (the  Federal  and  the  State,)  and  the  por 
tion  allotted  to  each,  subdivided  among  distinct  and 
separate  departments.  Hence,  a  double  security  arises 
to  the  rights  of  the  people.  The  different  governments 
will  control  each  other ;  at  the  same  time  that  each  will  le 
controlled  l)y  itself. 

u  It  is  of  great  importance  in  a  republic,  not  only  to 
guard  the  society  against  the  oppression  of  its  rulers,  but 
to  guard  one  part  of  the  society  against  the  injustice  of 
the  other  part.  Different  interests  necessarily  exist  in 
different  classes  of  citizens.  If  a  majority  be  united  by  a 
common  interest,  the  right  of  the  minority  will  be  inse 
cure.  There  are  but  two  methods  of  providing  against 
this  evil ;  the  one,  by  creating  a  will  in  the  community 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  EEC.  59 

independent  of  the  majority,  that  is,  of  the  society  itself; 
the  other,  by  comprehending  in  the  society  so  many 
separate  descriptions  of  citizens,  as  will  render  an  unjust 
combination  of  a  majority  of  the  whole  very  improbable, 
if  not  impracticable.  The  first  method  prevails  in  all 
governments  professing  an  hereditary  or  self-appointed 
authority.  This  is,  at  best,  but  a  precarious  security, 
because  a  power  independent  of  the  society  may  as  well 
espouse  the  unjust  views  of  the  major,  as  the  rightful 
interests  of  the  minor  party,  and  may  possibly  be  turned 
against  both  parties.  The  second  method  will  be  exem 
plified  in  the  Federal  Republic  of  the  United  States. 
Whilst  all  authority  in  it  will  be  derived  from,  and  de 
pendent  on  the  society,  the  society  itself  will  be  broken 
into  so  many  parts,  interests  and  classes  of  citizens,  that 
the  rights  of  individuals,  or  of  the  minority,  will  be  in 
little  danger  from  interested  combinations  of  the  majority." 
With  what  pCrfectness  of  comprehension  did  the  mind 
of  James  Madison  grasp  this  difficult  question  and  its  only 
true  solution !  An  hereditary,  or  absolute  authority  on 
the  one  hand,  and  a  Federal  Republic  of  United  States 
on  the  other.  The  former  precarious,  because  indepen 
dent  of  society ;  the  latter  safe,  because  derived  from  the 
various  interests  of  society  itself.  Thus  derived,  each 
part  is  a  check  upon,  each  part  a  balance  to  the  other. 
Shall  we  give  this  Federal  Republic  up,  without  trying 
those  checks,  or  resorting  to  those  balances,  with  the  cer 
tain  prospect  before  us,  that  if  we  do,  the  only  other 
resort  is  a  monarchy,  or  a  military  despotism  ? 


GO  THE   REBELLION: 

The  end  no  man  can  foresee.  A  dark  and  gloomy 
cloud  hangs  over  the  gulf  on  whose  overhanging  edge  the 
Republic  now  stands.  The  eye  cannot  trace  its  depth  : 
the  judgment  fails  in  resolving  its  gloom.  Nor  is  the 
peril  of  the  hour  lessened  by  the  reflection  that  a  single 
arm  can  precipitate  us  into  the  chasm ;  nor  is  the  clanger 
less  felt,  when  it  is  already  announced  by  the  Hotspurs 
of  the  hour  that  out  of  the  seceding  States  is  to  grow  one 
nation,  with  State  lines  obliterated,  and  of  course,  mon 
archy  and  absolutism  at  its  head. 

But  of  all  this,  and  of  further  reflections  with  regard 
to  remedies  still  existing  and  untried,  under  the  Consti 
tution  and  within  the  Union,  we  shall  have  to  speak  in 
another  article. 


[From  the  Natcbez  Daily  Courier,  Nov.  22,  I860.] 
HAVE    WE  EXHAUSTED    OUR   CONSTITUTIONAL    REMEDIES  ? 

NUMBER  THREE. 

«» 

THE    NATURE    OF    THOSE    REMEDIES. 

In  previous  articles  we  have  referred  to  remedies 
against  Northern  Republican  aggression,  still  existing 
within  the  Union  and  under  the  Constitution ;  so  far  un 
tried,  it  is  true,  but  yet,  for  the  present  at  least,  entirely 
efficacious.  We  allude  to  the  control  the  Senate  has  over 
every  appointment  to  office,  and  over  every  treaty  nego 
tiated  ;  and'  also  to  the  entire  control  the  Congress  has 
over  the  legislation  of  the  country,  embracing  every  ap 
propriation  of  money. 

These  checks  upon  the  executive  department  are  con- 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC. 


Gl 


ferred  in  express  and  positive  terms  by  the  Constitution 
upon  the  Senate  and  Congress.  "The  President  shall 
nominate,  and  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the 
donate,  shall  appoint,"  etc.  "All  legislative  powers 
herein  granted  shall  be  vested  in  a  Congress  of  the  United 
States/'  etc.  "  No  money  shall  be  drawn  from  the  Trea 
sury,  but  in  consequence  of  appropriations  made  by  law." 
The  existing  appropriation  bills  expire  with  the  current 
fiscal  year;  and  as  it  is  only  during  the  recess  of  the 
Senate  that  the  President  can  fill  a  vacancy  by  temporary 
appointment,  and  as  he  cannot  dispense  with  or  shorten 
the  sessions  of  the  Senate,  but  that  body  can  sit,  if  it 
choose,  from  March  4,  1861,  till  the  very  hour  of  the 
commencement  of  the  next  session  of  Congress,  so,  in 
fact,  the  whole  power  of  nomination  and  appointment, 
and  the  whole  expenditure  of  the  Government,  can  be 
checked  during  Mr.  Lincoln's  term  of  office,  or  during 
such  portion  of  it  as  a  Senate  or  a  House  shall  remain 
firm  in  their  opposition  to  the  aggressions  of  the  North 
upon  the  South. 

It  is  true  that  these  checks  were  not  given  to  the  Sen 
ate  or  to  Congress,  to  be  exercised  on  trivial  occasions, 
or  for  factious  purposes ;  tut  they  were  given,  and  tliei)  are 
unlimited.  They  were  confided  to  the  sound  discretion  of 
the  Senate  and  Congress,  and  the  extent,  the  occasion  and 
the  continuance  of  their  exercise,  must  be  suited  to  the 
emergency  of  the  case.  Severe  diseases  require  power 
ful  remedies ;  and  the  representatives  of  the  States  and 
of  the  people,  as  they  are  the  sole,  so  are  they  the  right- 


62  THE   REBELLION: 

ful  judges  of  when  the  emergency  arises,  how  great  is 
that  emergency,  and  the  extent  of  its  duration.  The 
Senate  cannot  appoint  to  office ;  nor  can  Congress  by 
itself  appropriate  money.  They  are  both  checked  by  the 
President,  who  alone  can  nominate,  and  whose  signature 
is  essential  to  the  making  of  a  law,  except  where  a  two- 
thirds  majority  is  obtained  in  each  House  of  Congress. 
That  power  of  nomination  and  of  vetoing,  is  unlimited ; 
applies  to  all  cases,  and  rests  with  executive  discretion 
alone.  So  the  power  of  rejection  of  nominations,  and  of 
passing  appropriation  bills,  is  unlimited  in  the  Senate  arid 
in  Congress,  and  rests  solely  on  their  discretion. 

Says  Judge  Story,  in  his  Commentaries  on  the  Consti 
tution,  §  1531  : 

"The  President  is  to  nominate,  and  thereby  has  the 
sole  power  to  select  for  office  ;  but  his  nomination  cannot 
confer  office,  unless  approved  by  a  majority  of  the  Senate. 
His  responsibility  and  theirs  is  thus  complete  and  distinct. 
He  can  never  be  compelled  to  yield  to  their  appointment 
of  a  man  unfit  for  office ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  they  may 
^withhold  their  advice  and  consent  from  every  candidate  who, 
in  their  judgment,  does  not  possess  due  qualifications  for 


office." 


And  in  the  next  section  Judge  Story  adds  : 
"It  will  be  principally  with  regard  to  high  officers, 
such  as  ambassadors,  judges,  heads  of  departments,  and 
other  appointments  of  great  public  importance,  that  the 
Senate  will  interpose  to  prevent  an  unsuitable  choice. 
Their  own  dignity,  and  sense  of  character,  their  duty  to 


ITS   CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  63 

'heir  country,  and  their  very  title  to  office,  will  le  materially 
d^endent  upon  a  firm  discharge  of  their  duty  on  such  oc 


casions" 


The  authors  of  the  Federalist,  in  Xo.  76,  express  their 
ideas  upon  the  same  subject : 

"To  what  purpose,  then,  require  the  co-operation  of 
the  Senate  ?  I  answer,  that  the  necessity  of  their  con 
currence  would  have  a  powerful,  though  in  general,  a 
silent  operation.  It  would  be  an  excellent  check  upon  a 
spirit  of  favoritism  in  the  President,  and  would  tend 
greatly  to  prevent  the  appointment  of  unfit  characters 
from  State  prejudice,  from  family  connections,  from  per 
sonal  attachment,  or  from  a  view  to  popularity. 

"He  would  be  both  ashamed  and  afraid  to  bring  for 
ward,  for  the  most  distinguished  or  lucratiye   stations, 
candidates  who  had  no  other  merit  than  that  of  coming  from 
same  State  to  which  he  particularly  belonged." 
And  the  author  might  well  have  added,  "from  the  same 
section  !  " 

Whether  the  Senate  should  have  a  negative  on  Presi 
dential  appointments,  was  a  question  upon  which  the 
members  of  the  convention  were  much  divided.  John 
Adams  was  opposed  to  it ;  and  a  friendly  correspondence 
took,  place  between  him  and  Roger  Sherman  upon  the 
subject.  It  is  to  be  found  in  Pitkin's  History  of  the 
United  States.  (II  PitkiiVs  Hist,  pp.  285  to  291.)  To 
the  objections  of  John  Adams,  ''Roger  Sherman  (one  of 
the  framers  of  the  Constitution)  replied,  that  he  esteemed 
"the  provision  made  for  appointments  to  office  to  be  a 


64  THE  REBELLION: 

matter  of  very  great  importance,  on  which  the  liberties 
and  safety  of  the  people  depended,  nearly  as  much  as  on 
legislation.  If  that  was  vested  in  the  President  alone, 
he  might  render  himself  despotic. 

"It  appears  to  me,"  continued  Mr.  Sherman,  "that 
the  Senate  is  the  most  important  branch  in  the  Government, 
for  the  aid  and  support  of  the  Executive,  for  the  securing 
the  rights  of  the  individual  States,  and  the  liberties  of  the 
people"  The  Senators  being  chosen  by  the  Legislatures  of 
the  States,  and  depending  on  them  for  re-election,  will 
naturally  be  watchful  to  prevent  any  infringement  of  the 
rights  of  the  States.  And  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  being  Federal,  and  constituted  by  a  number  of 
sovereign  States,  for  the  better  security  of  their  rights, 
and  advancement  of  their  interests,,  they  may  be  con 
sidered  as  so  many  pillars  to  support  it,  and  by  the  ex 
ercise  of  the  State  governments,  peace  and  good  will  may 
be  preserved  in  the  places  most  remote  from  the  seat  of 
the  Federal  Government  as  well  as  the  centre.  I  believe 
this  will  be  a  better  balance  to  secure  the  Government 
than  three  independent  negatives  would  be." 

The  power  of  the  National  Legislature  (the  other  check 
alluded  to)  is  eloquently  summed  up  by  the  distinguished 
author  first  quoted.  (I  Story's  Com.  §  531.) 

"The  latter  (Legislative)  has  and  must  have  a  con 
trolling  influence  over  the  executive  power,  since  it  holds 
at  its  own  command  all  the  resources  by  which  a  chief 
magistrate  could  make  himself  formidable.  It  possesses 
the  power  over  the  purse  of  the  Nation,  and  the  property 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  65 

of  the  people.  It  can  grant  or  withhold  supplies  ;  it  can 
levy  or  withdraw  taxes ;  it  can  unnerve  the  power  of  the 
sword  by  striking  down  the  arm  which  wields  it." 

But  it  may  be  said  that  an  entire  obstruction  of  the 
power  of  appointment,  or  a  stopping  of  the  wheels  of 
Government  by  refusing  supplies,  would  be  factious  and 
in  the  nature  of  a  revolutionary  proceeding.  Not  at  all, 
whenever  the  emergency  requires  such  a  remedy  to  be  applied. 
Here  we  have  a  sectional  party  endeavoring,  under  the 
forms  of  the  Constitution  and  the  letter  of  the  law,  to  get 
possession  of  the  Government  for  sectional  purposes. 
We  see  a  combination  of  Northern  States  to  annoy  and 
oppress  their  Southern  sisters,  in  defiance  of  the  spirit  of 
the  Constitution,  of  the  objects  of  the  Union,  and  of  the 
great  doctrine  of  the  equality  of  the  States,  enunciated  in 
the  composition  of  the  Senate  and  the  Electoral  Colleges. 
We  see  that  combination — we  might  almost  say,  con 
spiracy — so  far  successful  as  to  kave  obtained  control  of 
one  department  of  the  Government,  and  to  be  intent  on 
obtaining  control  over  the  others.  Here  is  a  great  emer 
gency  that  must  be  met ;  and  how  ?  Not  by  destruction 
of  the  Government,  or  by  an  extinguishment  of  the  Con 
stitution,  but  by  exercising  every  power  and  check  under 
the  Constitution,  given  for  our  protection. 

The  North  says  to  the  South,  "Mr.  Lincoln  is  consti 
tutionally  elected,  and  we  avail  ourselves  of  the  forms  of 
law  (even  if  against  its  spirit)  to  oppress  you."  Let  the 
South  reply,  "And  we  will  use  the  forms  of  the  law, 
preserving  too  the  spirit  of  the  Constitution,  to  prevent 
5 


66  THE  REBELLION: 

that  oppression.  Mr.  Lincoln  may  be  constitutionally 
elected,  but  it  shall  be 

"  'A  barren  sceptre  in  his  grasp, 
No  son  of  his  succeeding.7 

His  power  of  appointment  shall  be  negatived,  and  sup 
plies  refused  to  carry  on  the  Government,  (and  it  shall 
be  done  constitutionally,  for  the  Constitution  has  given 
us  these  checks  and  these  appliances  to  make  your  com 
bination  and  conspiracy  fruitless,)  until  the  North  returns 
to  its  senses  and  abandons  its  aggressions,  its  insults  and 
its  outrages.  If  you  can  combine  to  constitutionally  elect 
a  President,  we  in  self-preservation,  will  exercise  the 
powers  granted  by  the  Constitution  to  check  your  con 
spiracy.  You  cannot  call  our  conduct  factious,  for  we 
are  fighting  faction.  You  cannot  call  it  a  revolutionary 
proceeding,  for  we  will  but  suspend  the  operation  of 
Government,  not  extinguish  or  change  it.  You  cannot 
call  it  a  violation  of  the  Constitution ;  for  we  are  using 
its  letter  to  check  your  violations  of  its  spirit."  Thus 
let  the  North  be  answered  by  the  South. 

Where  do  we  derive  in  a  great  measure  our  theory  of 
Government,  and  system  of  checks  and  balances.  From 
the  British  Constitution ;  and  in  its  operation  there  has 
been  many  an  instance  where  the  fiouse  of  Commons  has 
fought,  and  fought  successfully  the  battles  of  the  people. 
"These  are  my  prerogatives,  said  Charles  I,  and  I  shall 
exercise  them."  They  may  be  your  prerogatives,"  re 
plied  the  House,  "but  if  you  exercise  them,  it  is  equally 
our  prerogative  to  vote  or  to  refuse  the  supplies."  And 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  67 

-for  eight  years  they  thus  peacefully  fought  the  Crown, 
and  the  Crown  succumbed ;  and  when,  after  succumbing 
and  obtaining  a  vote .  of  the  supplies,  the  Crown  again 
claimed  its  prerogatives — a  revolution  cost  the  monarch 
his  head.  Shalltwe  set  less  value  on  the  undoubted  right 
of  the  Senate  to  reject  nominations,  and  of  Congress  to 
i  pass  bills  or  refrain  from  passing  them  ? 

Here,  then,  the  South  and  its  friends  have  a  complete 
check  upon  the  Republican  party,  Even  in  the  hour  of 
their  triumph,  the  latter  will  find  themselves  chechmated, 
The  Government  can  be  made  to  pause,  only  to  move  on 
when  the  rights  of  the  South  are  acknowledged,  and  the 
unfriendly  combination  of  Northern  States  is  surrendered, 
Such  a  clogging  of  the  wheels  of  Government  will  cause 
us  inconvenience,  it  is  true;  but  far  less  than  to  the 
North ;  office  holders  will  have  to  go  without  their  sala 
ries  ;  but  so  they  would,  and  their  offices  too,  were  there 
secession  and  revolution.  Private  enterprise  would,  in 
ninety  days,  convey  mails  better  than  the  Government 
now  does,  and  upon  private  enterprise  would  we  have  to 
depend  in  case  of  secession.  We  would  have  in  no  event 
greater  inconveniences  under  a  suspension  than- under  a 
dissolution  of  the  Government,  while  we  would  be  spared 
the  evils  of  revolution,  and  the  sad  reflection-  that,  how- 

=  T  justifiably  it  was  done,  our  hands  had  destroyed  the 
great  work  of  Washington, 

The  North  could  not  stand  this  peaceful,  legitimate  and 
constitutional  clogging  of  the  wheels  of  Government. 
Their  commercial  and  manufacturing:  interests  would  be 


68  THE  REBELLION: 

made  to  feel  instantly  the  power  that  even  a  minority, 
possesses.  As  in  the  case  of  the  South,  self-interest 
would  teach  them  to  examine  more  closely  the  Bible  and 
the  Constitution,  and  that  the  examination  would  oblige 
them  to  be  willing  cohceders  of  every  right  the  Constitu 
tion  guarantees,  and  to  become  peaceful  neighbors  and 
friends,  instead  of .  disturbers  of  domestic  quiet,  and  en 
emies. 

Nor  is  this  idea  of  a  temporary  suspension  of  the  active 
powers  of  Government  strange  or  novel.  There  is  now 
a  provision  by  law,  authorized  by  the  Constitution,  say 
ing  what  officer  shall  act  as  President  in  case  of  removal, 
death,  resignation  or  inability  of  both  President  and  Vice 
President ;  but  there  is  no  such  provision,  (nor  in  all 
probability  would  the  Constitution  warrant  one,)  in  case 
a  President  and  Yice  President  elect  should  die  before 
the  time  of  taking  office,  or  should  decline  to  accept  the 
offices  to  which  they  have  been  chosen.  The  official  term 
of  the  old  officers  would  have  expired,  and  the  terms  of 
the  new  officers  would  not  have  commenced ;  so  it  would 
not  be  a  vacancy  by  death,  removal  or  resignation,  but 
by  expiration  of  the  official  term  of  office.  Speaking  of 
the  possible  non-election  of  President  and  Yice  President 
at  the  period  prescribed  by  the  Constitution,  Judge  Story 
observes  :  (Yol.  II  Com.,  §  1482) : 

"No  absolute  dissolution  of  the  Government  would 
constitutionally  take  place  by  such  a  non-election.  The 
only  effect  would  be  a  suspension  of  the  powers  of  the 
executive  part  of  the  Government,  and  incidentally  of 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  69 

the  legislative  powers,  until  a  new  election  to  the  Presi 
dency  should  take  place  at  the  next  constitutional  period ; 
an  evil  of  very  great  magnitude,  but  not  equal  to  a  posi 
tive  extinguishment  of  the  Constitution." 

In  case  of  the  checljs  to  which  we  have  referred,  there 
would  not  be  even  a  suspension  of  the  powers  of  Gov 
ernment,  but  only  a  clogging  of  the  wheels ;  an  evil  far 
less  than  that  of  the  extinguishment  of  the  Constitution 
and  the  dissolution  of  the  Union. 

Let  us  first  exhaust  all  these  constitutional  remedies, 
before  we  declare  for  open  revolution.  If  the  former  are 
found  to  be  of  no  avail,  then — but  hot  until  then — in  the 
language  of  Madison's  letter  to  Edward  Everett,  (August, 
1830,)  uln  the  event  of  a  failure  of  every  constitutional 
-resort,  and  an  accumulation  of  usurpations  and  abuses, 
rendering  passive  obedience  and  non-resistance  a  greater 
evil  than  resistance  and  revolution,  there  can  remain  but 
one  resort,  the  last  of  all — an  appeal  from  the  cancelled 
obligations  of  the  constitutional  compact,  to  original  rights 
and  the  law  of  self-preservation." 

How  foolish,  then,  to  see  the  South  throwing  away  the 
checks  and  remedies  it  possesses ;  to  see  Senators  arid 
Representatives  resigning ;  giving  up  the  Union  at  once, 
and  letting  Black  Republicans  take  possession  of  the 
Senate  and  Congress,  as  it  will  have  of  the  Executive ! 
These  resigning  men  are  unfaithful  to  the  South ;  these 
seceding  States  are  untrue  to  the  Constitution.  South 
Carolina  ought  not  thus  to  precipitate  us  into  a  revolu 
tion,  or  drive  .us  into  abandoning  faithful  allies  at  the 


70  THE  REBELLION: 

North ;  giving  up  remedies  laid  down  in  the  Constitution 
and  destroying  the  great  fabric  of  Government,  merely  to 
drift  upon  a  stormy  sea  of  revolution,  unprepared,  and 
ignorant  of  the  future. 

The  words  of  the  Good  Book  are  most  applicable  : 
(Acts  xxvii :  3 Of,  31) : 

"And  as  the  shipmen  were  about  to  flee  out 'of  the 
ship,  when  they  had  let  down  the  boat  into  the  sea,  under 
color  as  though  they  would  have  cast  anchors  out  of  the 
fore  ship, 

"Paul  said  to  the  centurion  and  the  soldiers,  Except 
these  abide  in  the  ship,  ye  cannot  be  saved" 

[From  the  Natchez  Daily  Courier,  Nov.  .23,  I860.] 
HAVE    WE  EXHAUSTED    OUR   CONSTITUTIONAL   REMEDIES  ? 

NUMBER  FOUR. 
THE   DISEASE    AND    ITS   REMEDY. 

The  crisis  demands  something  more  than  mere  tempo 
rary  remedies.  In  common  parlance,  we  may  as  well 
"  meet  the  bull  by  the  horns."  But  our  grievances  are 
misunderstood ;  or  at  least,  the  main  outrage  is  almost 
altogether  overlooked  by  us.  For  instance  :  we  complain 
of  negroes  being  allowed  to  vote  in  Ohio.  But  have  we 
forgotten  that  the  only  objection  we  can  urge  is,  that 
they  are  not  citizens  of  the  United  States,  and  that  the 
same  legal  rule  will  exclude  the  unnaturalized  white  resi 
dents  of  Illinois,  Wisconsin  and  other  States,  who,  with 
the  sanction  of  law,  have  been  controlling  the  votes  of 
those  States  for  many  years  ?  We  complain  of  the  per- 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  EEC.  71 

sonal  liberty  laws  of  the  Northern  States,  as  violative  of 
the  United  States  Constitution ;  and  so  they  are  ;  but  then 
do  we  recollect  that  Mississippi  has  upon  her  statute  book 
one  law  at  least  (in  relation  to  banks  and  assignment  of 
debts  due  them)  which  has  been  declared  by  the  United 
States  Supreme  Court  to  be  unconstitutional,  and  which 
Mississippi  still  neglects  to  repeal?  Is  it  a  doubtful 
matter — this  attacking  "sovereign  States'5'  for  establish 
ing  or  declining  to  repeal  laws  ?  The  Federal,  if  not  the 
State  courts,  will  do  final  justice  in  individual  cases ;  and 
it  may  as  well,  and  truthfully,  be  at  once  acknowledged, 
that  a  Vermont  creditor  can  as  justly  complain  of  Missis 
sippi  for  a  non-repeal  of  certain  of  her  laws,  as  a  Missis 
sippi  slaveholder  can  complain  of  Vermont  for  rrer  citizens 
not  looking  at  the  cars  on  the  "underground  railroad/7 
as  they  pass  by  their,  houses  or  fields  !  We  complain  of 
juries  in  Boston  and  Chicago,  for  not  being  able  to  con 
vict  in  fugitive  slave  cases  ;  but  we  forget  that  Charleston 
juries  also  fail  to  convict  in  foreign  slave-trade  cases. 
We  complain  of  Northern  judges  interposing  or  in 
veighing  against  the  Fugitive  Slave  law ;  but  we  forget 
that  United  States  juSges  in  Southern  States,  after  charg 
ing  the  grand  juries  on  the  subject  of  the  foreign  slave- 
trade,  immediately  after  the  adjournment  of  their  courts, 
have  announced  from  the  same  stand,  that  they  should' 
address  their  fellow-citiztfhs  in  opposition  to  the  laws 
prohibiting  that  trade,  at  candle-light  the  same  evening ! 
"They  who  live  in  glass  houses  must  not  cast  the  first 
stone/'7 


72  TiiE  REBELLION: 

We  waste  time  when  we  talk  about  the  mere  annoy 
ance  to  which  our  individual  property  is  subjected  at  the 
North,  when  we  claim  the  right  to  subject  property  to 
what  inconveniences  we  please  at  the  South.  The  prin 
ciple,  and  not  the  amount  of  the  aggression,  governs  the 
case.  It  may  be  unpleasant  for  us  to  have  our  neighbor 
wink  at,  or  frown  on  us,  at  a  distance ;  but  it  is  the 
positive  attack  that  compells  resistance  !  The  real  ag 
gression  that  has  been  made  upon  the  South  is,  not  that 
a  man  not  of  its  choice  has  been  elected ;  not  that  he  will 
distribute  offices  against  its  wishes ;  nominate  those  it 
does  not  like ;  negotiate  treaties  it  may  not  approve ; 
recommend  measures  it  may  not  sanction ;  but  that  the 
Northern  States  have  entered  into  a  combination  among 
tJiems&lves  to  obtain  control  over  the  Government.  We 
cheerfully  submit  to  the  rule  of  the  United  States ;  but 
not  to  the  rule  of  a  portion  of  those  States.  The  majority 
should  rule,  we  grant,  and  the  minority  should  yield. 
But  the  principle  upon  which  this  idea  is  founded  is  that 
the  assent  of  each  one  of  the  minority  has  already  been 
given  to  the  act  of  the  majority.  A  law  is  binding  upon 
every  citizen,  not  because  he  personally  assented  to  it,  or 
joined  in  its  enactment,  but  that  the  act  of  all  the  citi 
zens  of  a  common  society  is  construed  to  be  the  act  of 
each  one  of  that  society,  even  if  one  individual,  or  the 
whole  ten  thousand,  is  in  the  minority.  "Governments 
are  instituted  among  men,  deriving  their  just  powers 
from  the  consent  of  the  governed.77  It  may  be  an  actual, 
it  may  be  an  implied  consent ;  but  it  can  be  neither  when 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  73 

imposed  by  one  section  of  a  community  upon  another, 
even  if  done  by  the  whole  of  that  section,  and  they 
composing  a  majority.  We  are,  of  course,  talking  about 
white  men.  Neither  Revelation,  the  Old  or  the  New  ; 
nor  history,  sacred  or  profane  ;  nor  experience,  ancient 
or  modern,  ever  elevated  the  black  man  to  an  equality 
with  the  white. 

The  people  of  the  several  States,  in  their  various  State 
organizations,  formed  our  present  National  Government. 
They  did  so  upon  the  basis  of  the  equality  of  the  States. 
The  people  of  each  State  were  ^originally  equal,  so  far  at 
least  as  regarded  their  sovereign  capacity  to  treat,  to 
agree,  to  negotiate,  to  adopt,  or  to  consent.  They  did 
•consent ;  but  it  was  to  a  government  by  the  United  States. 
The  equality  of  those  States  entered  into  the  whole 
structure  of  the  Government.  It  fashioned  the  entire 
composition  of  the  Senate  ;  it  entered  into  the  basis  upon 
which  the  executive  power  was  erected.  That  equality 
is  destroyed  when  a  sectional  President  is  elected.  Were 
we  a  minority  in  every  State — the  candidates  being  run 
on  National  issues — we  could  have  no  word  of  objection. 
Florida  only  assented  to  a  government  in  common  with 
X'kw  York,  when  votes,  pro  or  con,  for  the  men  who  were 
to  form  the  government,  could  be  cast  in  Florida  as  well 
as  New  York ;  but  who  supposes  a  Lincoln  ticket  could 
have  been  formed  in  Florida?  Hence  Florida,  and  so 
with  all  the  Southern  tier  of  States,  feel  that  their  assent 
has  not  been  given.  They  can  submit  to  being  in  a  mi 
nority  ;  but  it  is  destructive  of  their  equality  to  think  that 


'4  THE  REBELLION: 

the  whole  of  the  majority  which  is  to  take  the  executive, 
and  the  legislative,  and  finally  the  judicial  departments 
of  the  Government  away  from  them,  reside  in  one  section 
and  they  in  another. 

The  idea  that  a  sectional  election  would  be  inimical  to 
the  continuance  of  the  Union  has  been  long  and  often 
acknoweledged  at  the  North.  It  is  no  new  idea.  It  is  a 
principle  that  comes  home  to  the  North  as  to  the  South. 
Were  the  cases  reversed,  how  quickly  would  the  cry 
come  up  of  Southern  aggression !  Look  again  at  Mr. 
Filhnore's  eloquent  expostulation  in  1856.  Oh,  well! 
but  in  deep  regret  that  they  had  not  flocked  to  his 
standard,  may  Southern  men  look  to  the  words  of  one 
that  then  so  freely  denounced,  but  who  struck  with  the 
battle-axe  of  truth  at  the  very  root  of  the  tree  of  section 
alism,  whose  leaves  are  now  extending  over  them,  and 
whose  blossoms  and  fruit  they  are  now  trying  to  avoid ! 

Abraham  Lincoln  was  not  elected  by  the  people  of  the 
United  States  as  their  President.  He  was  elected  by  the 
people  of  seventeen  of  the  States,  combined  against  the 
institutions  of  the  other  fifteen  States.  Here  is  the  griev 
ance,  and  here  the  outrage.  His  election  was  the  result 
of  a  combination— a  conspiracy  almost — (for  the  North 
may  as  well  hear  hard  words  from  a  Union  source  as  hear 
them  from  a  secession  paper,)  among  the  non-slavehold- 
ing  States,  to  obtain  control  over  the  slaveholding  States. 
We  have  no  fear  but  what  Mr.  Lincoln  will  make  a  fair 
executive  officer ;  he  may  not  purjure  himself;  he  may 
carry  out  the  fugitive  slave  law ;  but  all  that  is  not  the 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  75 

question.  His  sectional  notions  about  the  Territories  and 
the  District  can  all  be  overcome,  by  National  majorities 
in  Congress.  Nor  do  we  regret  even  if  his  election  should 
stimulate  examination  into  the  great  question  of  slavery ; 
whether  it  be  of  Divine  institution  and  permission; 
whether  it  be  consonant  with  the  law  of  love  to  our 
neighbor,  and  the  Golden  Rule ;  whether  it  be  adapted 
to  the  circumstances  of  human  condition,  and  one  of  the 
stones  in  the  great  foundation  of  its  structure.  One  thing 
we  know  ;  neither  examination  of  the  Bible,  nor  of  his 
tory,  nor  of  physiology,  nor  of  law,  nor  of  ethics,  has  ever 
resulted  in  aught  but  a  conviction  that  the  institution  of 
slavery  was  permitted  by  Divine  rule,  and  approved  by 
human  experience  as  a  necessary  law  of  races. 

But  none  of  this  is  really  material  to  the  purpose.  The 
election  of  Mr.  Lincoln  is  the  consummation  of  a  political 
conspiracy,  undertaken  partly  for  p artisan x  partly  for 
sectional,  and  partly  for  fanatical  purposes  ;  but  all  with 
the  intent  that  eighteen  Northern  States  should  rule  over 
fifteen  Southern  States.  The  principle  upon  which  the 
assent  of  the  minority  is  presumed  to  be  given  to  the  acts 
of  a.  majority,  was  ignored  in  his  election ;  because  the 
people  of  each  State  were  admitted  into  the  Union  as  the 
equal  of  the  people  of  each  other  State  ;  and  no  election 
ought  to  be  consummated  where  the  assent  of  Florida, 
Texas  and  Arkansas  could  not  have  been  as  well  implied 
to  the  election  as  that  of  New  York,  Pennsylvania  and 
Ohio.  Except  just  upon  the  border,  no  Lincoln  ticket 
was  attempted  to  be  run  in  the  Southern  States.  The 


76  THE  REBELLION: 

» 

Chicago  nominations  were  announced  as  sectional ;  they 

were  advocated  as  such.  No  tint  of  -Nationality  was 
given  to  the  picture.  Thank  God,  we  are  personally 
without  the  stains  of  having  advocated  a  sectional  or 
secession  ticket.  If  such  there  were,  it  came  under  the 
same  ban,  and  was  objectionable  on  the  same  principles  ; 
and  it  died  the  death  it  should  have  done.  But  that  does 
not  prevent  us  warring  against  sectionalism  at  the  North. 
We  have  few  tears  to  shed  over  the  grave  of  the  one, 
'and  nothing  but  sorrow  and  indignation  to  express  as  the 
car  of  the  other  passes  along  in  its  triumph. 

The  position  we  take  is  above  that  of  mere  disappoint 
ment.  We  have  endured  men  we  as  little  liked  person 
ally  as  Mr.  Lincoln.  We  know,  with  a  Senate  and  House 
opposed  to  him,  he  can  do  but  little  mischief,  compara 
tively;  but  the  principle  established  in  his  election  is, 
that  a  combination  or  conspiracy  of  States  can  be  formed 
to  obtain  possession  of  the  Government,  and  it  has 
already  consummated  its  triumph  in  Lincoln's  election. 
Against  such  a  principle  we  fight,  and  shall  fight  ever. 
We  fight  it  within  the  Union,  while  it  lasts,  (and  may  it 
last  always ! )  and  we  think  the  Constitution  enables  us 
to  fight  it  successfully.  The  wisest  and  best  men  of  the 
North,  unless  we  resort  to  rash  measures,  will  make  war 
for  that  "principle  alongside  of  us  of  the  South.  It  is  not 
a  sectional,  but  a  National  principle.  It  appeals  not  ex 
clusively  to  the  slaveholding,  but  as  well  to  the  non- 
slaveholding  region.  If  our  forefathers  would  not  consent 
to  taxation  without  being  represented  in  the  taxing  body, 


ITS   CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  77 

so  we  are  unwilling  to  be  represented  by  a  President  not 
elected  by  or  with  the  consent,  express  or  implied,  of  all 
the  States.  It  is  a  principle  we  cannot  surrender ;  one 
that  rises  above  the  personal  qualifications  of  Mr.  Lincoln, 
'the  probabilities  of  his  adherence  to  his  oath  of  office,  or 
the  promises  or  assurances  made  to  us  of  the  South,  that 
State  liberty  laws  shall  be  repealed,  or  United  States 
laws  be  enforced. 

There  are  but  two  ways  within  the  Union  that  this 
great  difficulty  can  be  met.     The  one  is  by  the  Northern 
electoral  colleges  being  made  to  see  the  error  of  their 
path.     The    Constitution  never   designed  the  electors  to 
be  the  mere  tools  of  party,  nor  does  the  morality  of  par 
tisanship  force  them  to  obey  the  edicts  of  a  faction,  when 
the  ruin  of  a  country  is  certain  to  ensue.     They  were 
elected  as  State  electors,  not  as  Lincoln  electors  ;  and  if 
there   is   patriotic   spirit  enough  left  in  twenty-four  of 
them,  they  will  reject  the  party  ties  that  bind  them,  and 
yet  vote  for  their  country.     It  is  within  the  power  now  of 
the  electors  for  Northern  States  to  give  peace  to  the  country. 
We  ask  them  neither  to  vote  for  Breckinridge,  or  Bell,  or 
Douglas ;  but  they  can  so  vote  collectively  for  two  men, 
from  different  sections,  and  irrespective  of  caucus  or  con 
vention  arrangements,  as  will  break  the  force  of  sectional 
combinations,  and  render  them  hereafter  impotent.    What 
a  glorious  monument  would  they  erect  to  their  own  fame ! 
Let  them  give  to  their  country  the  trust  committed  tjiem 
by  party!      "More  honored  in  the  breach  than  in  the 
observance,"  their  votes  deposited  for  a  conservative  man, 


78  THE  REBELLION: 

irrespective  of  party  or  of  section,  would  crown  their 
names  with  unfading  laurel!  "Not  that  I  loved  Caesar 
less,  but  that  I  loved  Rome  more/' would  be  their  full 
justification. 

The  only  other  way  to  meet  the  difficulty  is  the  resig 
nation  of  the  sectional  President  and  Yice  President ;  or 
in  case  they  assume  the  reins  of  Government,  the  as 
sumption  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  every  power,  and 
to  its  fullest  extent,  that  the  Constitution  affords.  We 
have  already  shown  what  those  powers  are,  and  that  they 
are  ample  for  the  purpose ;  that  they  are  given,  and  are 
unlimited ;  that  they  were  given  for  use,  and  to  an  ex 
tent  commensurate  and  co-extensive  with  the  exigency 
of  the  time  and  the  occasion ;  that  a  sectional  President 
must  be  taught  that  he  can  be  controlled  by  a  National 
House  and  Senate,  and  that  he  will  be  so  controlled; 
that  nominations  can  remain  unconfirmed;  appropria 
tion  bills  unpassed ;  and  all  the  ordinary  machinery  of 
Government  suspended,  unless  he  and  his  party  uncon 
ditionally  surrender  the  sectional  position  which  they 
hold. 

All  this  can  be  done  within  the  Union,  and  under  the 
Constitution,  agreeably  to  its  forms  and  in  obedience  to 
its  spirit.  We  need  not  secede  ;  we  need  not  revolution 
ize.  No  standing  armies  are  necessary ;  no  unconstitu 
tional  laws  justifiable.  We  have  a  fall  and  perfect  control 
over  the  sectional  madness  of  the  day,  and  we  are  mad 
ourselves  unless  we  exercise  it. 

Let  us  say  to  our  Senators,  you  were  placed  there  as 


ITS   CONSEQUENCES,  'ETC.  79 


were  the  Consuls  of  the  Roman  Republic — "  Ne  quid 
RespuUka  detrimenti  capiat  f  to  see  that  the  Republic 
shall  receive  no  harm,  during  his  term  of  service,  is  the 
Senator's  bounden  duty.  The  great  principle  of  the 
equality  of  the  States  is  confided  to  his  keeping.  If  he 
neglects  or  abandons  it, 

"May  life's  unblessed  cup  for  him 
Be  drugged  with  treacheries  to  the  brim." 

[From  the  Natchez  Daily  Courier,  Nor.  24,  I860.] 
HAVE    WE    EXHAUSTED   OUR   CONSTITUTIONAL    REMEDIES? 

NUMBER  FIVE. 
WHERE    ARE    WE    HURRYING    TO  ? 

We  have  written  the  previous  articles  under  the  gen 
eral  heading,  -Have  we  Exhausted  our  Constitutional 
Remedies?"  to  very  little  purpose,  if  the  reader  has 
failed  to  perceive  the  two  great  objects  we  have  in  view 
—first-  to  show  tersely  and  clearly  the  nature  of  the 
grievance  the  Southern  States  complain  of,  in  the  election 
of  Mr.  Lincoln ;  secondly,  to  point  out  the  ample  remedies 
provided  in  the  Constitution  and  under  the  Union,  which 
the  South  and  the  Nation  have  for  precisely  such  a 
grievance. 

First— -The  aggression  rises  above  and  beyond  mere 
annoyances,  obstructions  to  law,  unkind  words,  or  election 
of  men  wo  do  not  like,  and  upon  principles 'we  do  not 
approve  It  n  the  very  heart  of  the  Government 

itself:  It  is,  that  a  conspiracy  lias  been  formed  by  cer 
tain  of  co-equal  Smtes  to  get  possession  of  the  Govern- 


80  THE  REBELLION: 

• 

merit  for  their  own  peculiar  purposes.  It  involves  the 
question  of  the  equality  of  the  States.  It  is  one  that  the 
North  is  equally  interested  in  with  the  South ;  that  Rhode 
Island  has  the  same  stake  in  determining  rightfully,  that 
Arkansas  or  Florida  has.  Can  certain  States,  great  or 
small,  combine  and  conspire  together,  for  any  objects 
whatever,  to  obtain  possession  of  the  Government,  and 
thus  lord  it,  under  the  Constitution,  over  the  remaining 
States?  Ask  the  comparatively  feeble  New  England 
States,  if  the  West  and  the  Southwest  thus  conspired  to 
strike  at  their  peculiar  interests,  whether  they  would  not 
consider  it  violative  of  the  spirit  of  the  Constitution,  and 
to  be  resisted  to  the  very  extent  of  all  the  checks  against 
such  a  combination  that  the  letter  of  the  Constitution 
gave  ?  The  greatest  and  wisest  men  of  the  North,  with 
out  reference  to  their  peculiar  views  on  the  subject  of 
slavery,  have  already  testified  to  the  strength  of  this 
position.  Some  of  them,  who  brought  to  the  subject  the 
strongest  prejudices  against  our  domestic  institution,  stand 
with  us  and  by  us  upon  the  great  principle  that  States 
ought  not  to  combine  against  States,  their  equals  in  the 
Union,  nor  section  against  section.  Ours  is  the  National 
position ;  let  us  not  abandon  the  Nationality  of  that  position. 
It  is  a  position  which  a  million  and  a  half  of  voters  in  the 
North  have  already  virtually  taken.  They  stand  by  the 
side  of  thirteen  hundred  thousand  voters  in  the  South  in 
asserting  the  principle  that  States  must  not  combine 
against  States,  nor  section  conspire  against  section.  Why 
leave  this  to  stand  on  lower  or  less  National  ground  ? 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  .      81 

However  much  and  rightfully  the  South  may  object  to 
Mr.  Lincoln's  views,  or  to  the  views  of  the  party  that 
sustains  him,  it  cannot  be  united  in  resistance  to  his  in 
auguration,  because  they  know  that  his  election  was  and 
his  inauguration  will  be  in  compliance  with  every  form  of 
law.  But  they  can  and  will  say,  unanimously,  and  every 
fair-thinking  and  right-minded  man  at  the  North,  free 
from  mere  fanatic  prejudice,  will  join  them  in  asserting 
that  the  State  combination  against  State,  or  sectional 
combination  against  section,  is  violative  of  the  spirit  of 
the  Constitution,  subversive  of  its  aims,  and  destructive 
of  the  very  principle  upon  which  alone  it  can,  or  ought  to 
work  successfully.  Such  a  combination,  if  allowed  to 
succeed,  neither  forms  a  more  perfect  Union,  nor  estab 
lishes  justice,  nor  insures  domestic  tranquility,  nor  pro 
vides  for  the  common  defence,  nor  promotes  the  general 
welfare,  nor  secures  the  blessings  of  liberty  to  ourselves 
and  our  posterity — the  great  and  noble  objects  for  which 
the  people  of  the  United  States  ordained  and  established 
the  Constitution. 

Second — The  remedy  we  propose  is  not  secession  or 
disunion,  nor  an  extinguishment  of  the  Government. 
This  is  to  abandon  at  once,  and  without  a  struggle,  the 
citadel  of  freedom  to  foes  who  now  only  have  possession 
of  the  outer  gate.  "Fight  on  and  fight  ever,"  should  be 
our  motto.  If  we  give  up — and  secession  and  disunionism 
are  only  giving  up  the  contest — what  have  we  in  pros 
pect?  We  now  have  a  powerful  minority  in  the  North, 
almost  a  majority — we  make  them  hostile  foreigners. 
6 


82  THE  REBELLION: 

We  now  have  rights  and  property  under  the  Constitution 
— we  abandon  them  all.  We  now  have  a  self-supporting 
Government — to  commence  a  new  one  we  insure  the 
necessity  of  a  taxation,  at  once  unnecessary,  onerous  and 
excessive.  We  have  a  border  on  the  Ohio  river,  north 
of  which  the  laws  we  think  necessary  for  protection  are 
executed  as  far  as  Federal  authority  can  execute  them, 
and  with  the  assurance  that  if  we  only  exert  the  checks 
the  Constitution  grants,  the  pressure  on  Northern  public 
opinion  will  make  those  laws  observed  as  far  as  State 
authority  can  influence — but  if  we  dissolve  the  Union 
there  is  no  Federal  law  to  operate,  no  Northern  opinion 
to  influence.  We  give  the  advantage  to  the  North  of 
saying — 

' '  We  held  but  slack  allegiance  to  this  hour, 
But  now  our  sword  7s  our  own." 

Shall  we  give  up  all,  or  shall  we  stand  by  our  flag  ? 
Secession  is  submission  and  abandonment  of  our  rights. 
Resistance  in  the  Union  is  standing  by  our  colors.  Will 
we  allow  our  Senators  and  Representatives  thus  to  aban 
don  their  posts  ?  How  beautifully  comes  over  the  re 
membrance  of  the  reader  of  Sir  Walter  Scott  the  tribute 
paid  to  the  faithful  dog  of  Sir  Kenneth  : 

"  It  was  midnight,  and  the  moon  rode  clear  and  high 
in  heaven,  when  Kenneth  of  Scotland  stood  upon  his 
watch  on  St.  George's  Mount  beside  the  banner  of  Eng 
land — a  solitary  sentinel,  to  protect  the  emblem  of  that 
nation  against  the  insults  which  might  be  meditated 
among  the  thousands  whom  Richard's  pride  had  made  his 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  83 

enemies.  Beside  the  banner  and  staff  lay  the  large  stag 
hound,  on  whose  vigilance  Kenneth  trusted  for  early 
warning  of  the  approach  of  any  hostile  footstep.  The 
noble  animal  seemed  to  understand  the  purpose  of  the 
watch." 

Kenneth  left.  "  Watch  thou  here,  and  let  no  one  ap 
proach  ! "  But  when  he  returned  he  found  that  the 
standard  of  England  had  vanished,  but  that  the  spear  on 
which  it  floated  lay  broken  on  the  ground,  and  that  be 
side  it  lay  the  faithful  hound  in  the  agonies  of  death ! 

Shall  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  prove  less  true 
to  the  banner  of  the  Constitution  and  the  Union  than  the 
hound  to  that  of  England?  "  A  dog  who  dies  discharging 
his  duty  is  better  than  a  man  who  survives  the  desertion 
of  it," 

But  what  have  we  proposed  as  a  full  remedy?  Simply 
that  the  Senate  and  the  House  shall  remain  faithful  to 
their  trust.  If  the  people,  who  made  the  Senate  and  the 
House,  abandon  for  a  time  the  standard  of  their  countr}-. 
let  that  Senate  and  House  watch  and  ward  it  till  the 
people — their  masters — return  from  their  delusion.  Let 
the  hound  of  Sir  Kenneth  again,  even  in  his  dying  mo 
ment,  point  out  to  his  loved  owner  the  only  post  of  duty 
— the  true  path  of  glory. 

Let  the  Senate,  which  meets  the  very  instant  of  Lin 
coln's  inauguration,  tell  him,  frankly,  "We  are  at  our 
post ;  we  will  not  confirm  your  sectional  nominations ;  we 
will  not  ratify  any  treaties  you  negotiate.  It  is  an  ultra 
remedy  we  propose  to  administer ;  but  the  disease  in- 


84  THE  REBELLION: 

volves  the  very  life  of  the  Constitution  and  the  existence 
of  the  Union.  The  remedy  will  be  efficacious,  and  we 
will  administer  it  in  heroic  doses.  A  combination  has 
elected  you,  in  defiance  of  the  spirit  of  the  Constitution. 
The  principle  of  the  expressed  or  implied  consent  of  the 
minority  to  the  action  of  the  majority  we  cannot  surren 
der,  and  that  principle  was  violated  in  your  election.  It 
is  a  fundamental  principle,  and  we  will  not  abandon  it. 
We  can,  'within  the  letter  of  the  Constitution,  emasculate 
the  virility  of  your  appointing  power,  and  it  shall  be  done 
until  the  legislative  power  of  the  country  meets." 

Let  Congress  tell  Lincoln,  when  it  meets  in  December, 
1861,  "What  the  Senate  has  done  in  the  recess,  we  shall 
repeat,  and  continuously,  till  March  4,  1863.  We  lie 
beside  the  flag  of  our  country,  and  the  hour  of  desertion 
shall  be  the  hour  of  death.  We  vote  no  supplies ;  we 
pass  no  laws.  Our  position  may  be  passive,  but  no  sec 
tional  man  touches  the  staff  on  which  that  banner  floats, 
while  life  survives." 

These  are  remedies  within  the  Union  and  under  the 
Constitution.  Let  the  Government  pause,  but  not  be 
destroyed ;  let  its  functions  be  suspended,  but  not  ex 
tinguished  ;  let  the  flame  grow  dim,  but  not  be  altogether 
quenched ! 

If  we  abandon  these  remedies  we  have  under  the  Con 
stitution,  surrender  the  protection  of  the  Union,  or  give 
up  the  rights  that  we  have  under  it — what  is  left  to  us  ? 
What  does  secession  forebode  ?  What  does  disunion 
promise  ?  View  it  in  its  most  favorable  light !  Grant 


ITS   CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  85 

that  all  the  border  States,  Maryland,  Kentucky  and  Mis 
souri,  follow  the  banner  we  bear,  and  from  which  so  many 
stars  will  have  to  be  erased.  Ah !  well  did  the  gifted 
Prentiss  prophesy  that  all  the  stripes  would  remain  be 
hind  !  .  Let  fifteen  Southern  States  unite  in  forming  a 
Southern  Confederacy !  Will  Delaware,  Maryland,  Yir- 
ginia,  Kentucky  or  Missouri,  grant  us  of  the  "Cotton 
States  "  a  representation  for  three-fifths  of  our  negroes  ? 
Will  the  interests  of  Baltimore,  Richmond,  Louisville,  St. 
Louis  or  Memphis,  be  identical  with  ours?  Will  the  rule 
that  Charleston  will  iinpose,  either  for  foreign  commerce 
or  for  domestic  relations,  be  that  which  the  Southwest 
will  relish?  How  long  will  mutuality  of  interest  in  one 
species  of  property,  keep  together  those  who  are  dissimi- 
lated  with  respect  to  all  other  species? 

When  Charleston  demands -free  trade,  and  New  Or 
leans  a  duty  on  sugar ;  and  Kentucky  and  Missouri  a  duty 
on  iron  or  hemp ;  when  Louisiana,  Mississippi  and  Mis 
souri  are  taught  to  feel  that  theirs  are  democratic  States, 
and  South  Carolina  an  oligarchical  one;  that  universal 
suffrage  controlls  the  West,  but  that  in  the  East  of  the 
new  Confederacy,  the  people  are  not  permitted  to  vote 
except  on  property  qualifications,  and  then  never  for  their 
Governors  or  Presidential  Electors;  when  they  realize 
that  a  purely  aristocratical  State  has  made  them  rashly 
surrender  undoubted  rights,  powers  and  property,  in  a 
great  Government ;  how  long  will  the  Southern  Confed 
eracy  last  ?  '  *  Millions  for  defence,  lut  not  a  cent  for  tribute" 
is  a  great  maxim ;  but  where  shall  we  get  our  millions  for 


86  THE  REBELLION: 

war,  when  we  can  secure  the  results  for  which  we  fight, 
within  the  Union,  and  without  the  expenditure  of  a  dol 
lar?  How  will  Mississippi  feel  in  being  taxed  a  million 
or  two,  for  expenses  she  could  have  avoided  by  remaining 
in  the  Union,  and  by  fighting  for  the  Southern  cause 
under  the  Constitution,  and  that  successfully ;  when  by 
abandoning  that  cause  she  surrenders  the  objects  she  is 
called  on  to  fight  for  ? 

A  thousand  such  reflections  come  over  the  mind,  that 
neither  editorial  time  nor  our  readers'  patience  will  admit 
further  dwelling  upon.  In  the  Union  we  can  fight  for 
our  rights  ;  by  going  out  of  it  we  surrender.  Under  the 
Constitution  we  have  remedies  ;  by  passing  from  under  its 
aegis  we  refuse  them.  In  vulgar  parlance,  we  cut  off  our 
nose  to  spite  our  face.  We  commit  suicide,  for  fear  we 
shall  die  a  natural  death. 

The  newly  confederated  South  will  soon  become  dis 
satisfied.  The  Northern  tier  of  States  will  find  their 
interests  diverse  from  those  of  the  Southern  tier.  The 
former  will  become  the  Northern  States  of  the  new  Con 
federacy.  The  passions  of  the  hour  will  soon  pass  away, 
and  self-interest  will  dictate  political  action.  The  slaves 
of  Maryland,  Virginia,  Kentucky,  Missouri,  will  be  sent 
South  for  sale  ;  the  present  line  of  the  Ohio  river  will  be 
transferred  to  waters  or  imaginary  lines  fully  four  degrees 
lower ;  and  then  the  same  conflict,  which  by  our  own 
action  we  shall  have  consented  to  be  called  "  irrepressi 
ble,"  will  be  transferred  to  the  fields  and  plains  of  the 
extreme  sunny  South.  Could  William  H.  Seward  wish 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC. 


87 


any  better  "  Helper,"  to  say  nothing  about  his  book, 
than  the  aid  our  secessionists  are  lending  him  ?  And  what 
will  be  the  final  result  ?  another  split  and  a  second  se 
cession  !  If  the  border  States  now  refuse  co-operation, 
this  final  result  will  be  only  the  more  quickly  consum 
mated. 

The  end,  at  any  rate,  will  be  a  Confederated  Govern 
ment  of  the  Southern  tier  of  States.  The  cotton  States 
(to  use  Mr.  Yancey's  phrase)  will  have  been  precipitated 
into  revolution,  for  it  is  with  them  only  that  the  effective 
movement  he  has  been  so  long  designing,  can  be  hoped 
for.  Self-preservation  will  necessitate  the  employment  of 
the  severest  measures.  Where  will  the  framers  of  the 
new  Government  find  the  model  for  their  political  action? 
Upon  what,  if  any,  green  spot  amid  the  waste  of  waters, 
will  the  dove  from  their  ark  of  safety  rest  ?  Upon  none, 
if  it  seeks  a  republic !  It  will  return  home — and  what 
a  home ! 

The  old  Confederation  will  have  proved  to  be  a  failure. 
The  Union  and  the  Constitution  will  also  have  proved  to 
be  a  failure.  Freedom  will  have  fled,  or  else  have  stood 

aside, 

" as  if,  in  plaintive  notes,  - 

To  weep  her  own  decline." 

And  what  is  left  ?  Well  may  we  shudder  when  we 
reflect !  From  the  angry  waters  of  revolution,  made  to 
boil  and  bubble  up  by  fires  of  passion  and  of  rage,  there 
can  only  arise  the  dim  spectre  of  despotism.  The  in 
terests  of  the  "cotton  States"  will  be  one;  but  if  the 


88  THE  REBELLION: 

Union,  the  Constitution,  and  a  Southern  Confederacy 
shall  have  alike  failed,  (and  the  latter  must  fail  if  the 
other  two  be  abandoned,)  these  States  can  only  be  kept 
together  by  a  stronger  force  than  Constitutions  will 
vouchsafe  or  popular  will  sanction.  Yes,  out  of  the 
seething  mass  of  revolution  will  arise  that  spectre  of  des 
potism — and  as  all  the  characteristics  of  our  people  are 
military,  it  will  be  a  military  despotism — glorious  it  may 
be  in  its  luminosity,  as  it  breaks  upon  the  sight,  but  de 
generating  into  the  darkness  of  the  political  night  to 
which  it  will  inevitably  hasten. 

Men  of  the  South  !  Are  you  prepared  for  such  results? 
Are  you  willing  to  give  up  all  to  accomplish  nothing  ? 
Our  fathers  built  up  a  great  temple  of  liberty.  Its  aisles 
reach  from  ocean  to  ocean.  Its  courts  are  wide  and  large 
enough  to  embrace  the  people  of  the  earth.  Upon  the 
dome  of  that  temple  the  smile  of  the  Almighty  has  so  far 

9 

given  the  effulgence  of  His  rays.  Within  that  temple 
stands  the  altar  of  freedom,  and  daily  and  hourly  the 
smokte  of  sacrifice  arises.  Shall  we  put  out  the  light  upon 
those  altars  ?  If  we  do,  we  can  never  reillumine  it. 

The  great  master  of  the  human  heart  has  told  how  this 
idea  operated  upon  the  husband  who  fancied  himself  in 
jured,  but  who  was  not  injured  in  reality.  He  came  into 
the  bedchamber  of  his  wife,  as  she  lay  sleeping  with  th,e 
light  beside  her ;  and  we  quote  his  words  : 

"Put  out  the  light,  and  then — put  out  the  light ! 

If  I  quench  thee,  thou  flaming  minister, 

I  can  again  thy  former  light  restore, 

Should  I  repent  me  : — but  once  put  out  thine, 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  89 

Thou  cunning's  pattern  of  excelling  nature, 

I  know^not  where  is  that  Promethean  heat, 

That  can  thy  light  relume.    When  I  have  plucked  thy  rose, 

I  cannot  give  it  vital  growth  again ; 

It  needs  must  wither.77 

Men  of  the  South,  ''let  us  smell  it  on  the  tree  !" 


"DON'T  GIVE  UP  THE  SHIP!" 

The  following  communication  from  the  pen  of  Mr. 
Barker,  first  appeared  in  the  Picayune  in  December, 
1860,  shortly  after  the  close  of  the  memorable  political 
struggle,  the  result  of  which  entailed  on  us  our  present 
calamitous  condition.  The  communication  was  univer 
sally  read  at  the  time,  and  commanded  very  marked 
attention  : 

[Communicated.]  i 

"DON'T  GIVE  UP  THE  SHIP!" — We  proudly  proclaim 
to  the  world  the  justice  of  our  cause.  Nothing  should 
be  done  to  tarnish  its  lustre. 

We  have  had  a  severe  political  contest,  in  which,  owing 
to  the  peculiar  organization  of  our  Confederacy,  we  w^ere 
defeated,  but  not  vanquished,  as  a  majority  of  near  one 
million  of  legal  voters  cast  their  ballots  against  the  can 
didates  elected  for  President  and  Vice  President,  while  a 
majority  of  both  Houses  of  Congress  was  secured  to  the 
friends  of  law  and  order. 

For  this  we  are  greatly  indebted  to  our  Northern 
friends,  who  fought  our  battle  valliantly.  *  Can  we  aban 
don  them  to  the  tender  mercies  of  our  opponents  without 
committing  an  act  of  direct,  palpable  injustice  ?  I  say 
we  cannot.  As  patriots,  men  of  honor  and  lovers  of 


90 


THE  REBELLION: 


justice,  we  are  bound  to  fight  on  with  them,  side  by  side, 
until  we  can  form  a  separate  Confederacy  of  the  slave 
States.  Seceding  singly  would  be  to  leave  our  opponents 
a  majority  in  both  Houses  of  Congress,  in  possession  of 
all  the  funds,  property  and  machinery  of  the  Govern 
ment,  obliging  us  to  appeal  to  them  for  a  fair  participa 
tion  therein. 

Our  opponents  are  the  seceders,  by  their  opposition  to 
the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  their  personal 
liberty  laws. 

If  they  do  not  repeal  those  laws,  and  carry  the  provi 
sions  of  the  Constitution  into  full  and  fair  effect,  they 
should  not  be  allowed  to  have  a  representative  in  either 
House  of  Congress  or  to  vote  for  a  President  or  Vice 
President. 

In  place  of  withdrawing  from  the  Confederacy  singly, 
we  should  fight  on  and  demand  a  law  for  a  convention  to 
amend  the  Constitution,  giving  the  election  of  President 
and  Yice  President  to  the  people. 

All  free  white  citizens  of  the  United  States  over  the 
age  of  twenty-one,  who  are  entitled  to  vote  for  State 
legislators,  to  be  entitled  to  vote  therefor;  one  of  the 
candidates  to  be  a  citizen  and  resident  of  a  slave  State, 
the  other  of  a  free  State,  to  hold  office  for  ten  years,  and 
not  to  be  eligible  for  a  second  term. 

This  latter  clause  would  give  what  we  most  want,  sta 
bility  to  our  institutions,  avoiding  those  frequent  convul 
sions  which  always  prove  destructive  to  business  of  every 
description. 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  EEC. 


91 


New  Orleans  has  suffered  many  millions  of  dollars  from 
the  anticipation  of  a  dissolution  of  the  Union;  what 
would  be  the  ruinous  effect  of  the  reality  no  man  can  tell ; 
time  only  can  solve  that  question,  if  so  dire  a  resort  be 
comes  necessary. 

If  the  advocates  of  secession  would  enlighten  the  pub 
lic  mind  as  to  how  the  proposed  change  will  restore  those 
losses,  and  how  the  mechanics  and  laborers  who  are 
thrown  out  of  employment  are  to  be  fed,  under  the  sepa 
rate'  organization  of  the  States,  they  will  better  know  how 
to  estimate  such  a  measure ;  and  if  they  will  inform  the 
friends  of  our  domestic  institutions  how  we  are  to  get 
better  security  under  a  separate  government,  or  under  a 
Confederacy  of  the  slave  States,  than  we  have  under  our 
present  Constitution,  we  shall  better  know  how  to  esti 
mate  their  patriotic  labors  in  bringing  about  a  change. 

The  slave  States,  if  they  consult  their  own  interest, 
will  adhere  together  and  take  no  separate  action. 

Whatever  a  majority  decide  on,  the  minority  will  agree 
to,  and  thus  present  an  undivided  front,  which  cannot  be 
resisted ;  while  any  other  course  will  greatly  weaken  our 
position:  ' 

It  is  too  late  to  inquire  whether  slavery  be  a  blessing 
or  a  curse.  It  was  entailed  on  us  by  Great  Britain  con 
trary  to  our  wishes ;  it  cannot  be  abolished,  and  we  have 
to  submit  to  it.  Our  slaves — four  millions — are  the  most 
religious,  industrious  and  happy  class  of  workingmen  in 
the  world.  To  change  their  position  would  do  them  in 
calculable  mischief. 


92  THE  REBELLION: 

The  prosperity  of  the  South  depends  on  its  existing 
institutions,  hence  our  jealousy  at  all  interference. 

JACOB  BARKER. 
New  Orleans,  Dec.  20,  1800. 

It  had  been  determined  by  the  advocates  of  secession 
that  a  Convention  should  be  called.  An  election  for 
delegates  was  held.  The  contest  was  close.  Mr.  Barker 
took  a-  very  active  part  against  secesssion.  It  resulted  in 
their  favor,  in  the  city  of  New  Orleans,  by  about  four 
hundred  majority.  Had  it  been  otherwise,  it  is  believed 
that  the  vote  of  the  city  members,  with  its  moral  influ 
ence,  would  have  induced  the  Convention  to  reject  the 
fatal  ordinance.  Notwithstanding  the  decided  majority 
of  those  elected,  it  is  believed  that  the  popular  vote  of 
the  State  was  averse  to  secession — the  returns  never  hav 
ing  been  published,  we  are  unable  to  speak  with  cer 
tainty. 

Near  eight  thousand  registered  voters  declined  to  at 
tend  the  polls.  They  were  mostly  those  who  worshiped 
at  the  churches  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Leacock,  of  the  Episco 
pal,  and  of  Dr.  Palmer,  of  the  Presbyterian  faith. 
Those  two  gifted  and  eloquent  divines  preached  very  im 
pressive  sermons  immediately  preceding  the  election, 
which  were  well  calculated  to  prejudice  the  public  mind, 
and,  beyond  all  question,  decided  the  fate  of  the  State, 
and  consequently  the  great  National  question  at  issue. 
We  have  no  disposition  to  take  a  mistaken  view  of  those 
sermons,  and  if  we  could  put  our  hand  on  them,  would 


ITS   CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  93 

give  them  in  full  in  these  sheets — to  which  end  we  have 
made  many  inquiries,  without  finding  a  single  copy. 
They  will  be  added  in  an  appendix,  if  they  come  to  hand 
in  season. 

The  Convention  met,  and  made  hot  haste  to  pass  the 
secession  ordinance.  It  was  resisted  by  the  Hon.  Mr. 
Jas.  G.  Taliaferro,  a  member  from  the  parish  of  Cata- 
houla,  and  the  Hon.  Mr.  J.  Ad.  Rozier,  a  member  from 
New  Orleans,  who  made  very  able  although  ineffectual 
speeches  against  secession ;  and,  on  the  final  passage,  the 
members  of  the  Louisiana  Convention  voted  seriatim  and 
in  the  alphabetical  order  of  their  names.  The  Honorable 
James.  G.  Taliaferro,  the  delegate  from  Catahoula,  when 
called  in  his  turn,  made  the  following  remarks  : 

Mr.  President — Several  of  the  gentlemen  who  have 
preceded  me  took  occasion  to  express  their  strong  at 
tachment  to  Louisiana,  and  the  deep  interest  they  feel  in 
her  prosperity  and  welfare,  and  offer  these  as  the  leading 
reasons  which  induce  them  to  support  this  monstrous 
measure.  Sir,  I  have  lived  in  Louisiana  more  than  fifty 
years,  and  from  early  childhood.  All  my  interests,  asso 
ciations  and  feelings  are  closely  connected  with  her  well 
being.  All  that  I  have  of  worldly  goods,  and  of  worldly 
hopes  and  aspirations  are  centered  in  Louisiana.  The 
soil  of  Louisiana  covers  the  bones  of  very  many  of  those 
who  were  near  and  dear  to  me ;  and  her  soil,  at  a  day 
not  now  distant,  will  envelope  my  own.  Sir,  I  am  be 
hind  no  man  in  attachment  to  Louisiana.  I  am  unable 
to  see  that  higher  and  grander  position  which  gentlemen 


94  THE  REBELLION: 

say  Louisiana  is  to  assume  by  the  act  of  secession.  Clouds 
and  darkness,  rather,  are  before  me.  The  dimness  of  age, 
perhaps,  prevents  me  from  penetrating  the  gloom  and 
seeing  the  bright  skies  and  green  fields  beyond.  In  the 
exercise  of  my  best  judgment,  and  under  my  honest  con 
victions  of  the  ruinous  tendency  of  this  measure,  I  must 
pronounce  it  an  act  of  madness  and  of  folly.  Sir,  I  vote 
n ay  !  And,  presenting  the  following  protest,  asked  leave 
to  have  it  spread  on  the  journal,  which  was  refused  : 

PROTEST. 

The  delegate  from  the  parish  of  Catahoula  opposes, 
unqualifiedly,  the  separate  secession  of  Louisiana  from 
the  Federal  Union,  and  asks  leave  to  place  upon  the 
records  of  the  Convention  his  reasons  for  that  opposition. 
They  are  as  follow  : 

I  oppose  the  act  of  secession  because,  in  my  deliberate 
judgment,  the  wrongs  alleged  as  the  cause  of  the  move 
ment  might  be  redressed  under  the  Constitution  by  an 
energetic  execution  of  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  and 
that,  standing  on  the  guarantees  of  the  Constitution,  in 
the  Union,  Southern  rights  might  be  triumphantly  main 
tained  under  the  protection  and  safeguards  which  the 
Constitution  affords. 

Because,  in  secession,  I  see  no  remedy  for  the  actual 
and  present  evils  complained  of,  and  because  the  prospect 
ive  evils  depicted  so  glpomily  may  never  come ;  and  if 
they  should,  the  inalienable  right  to  resist  tyranny  and 
opression  might  then  be  exercised  as  well  and  successfully 
as  now. 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  95 

Because  I  see  no  certainty  that  the  seceding  States 
will  ever  be  confederated  again ;  none  that  the  border 
States  will  secede  at  all ;  and  if  they  should,  I  see  no  re 
liable  ground  for  believing  that  they  would  incorporate 
themselves  with  the  Gulf  or  cotton  States  in  a  new  gov 
ernment.  I  see  no  surety,  either,  that  Texas  will  unite 
with  them. 

Because  the  Gulf  or  cotton  States  alone,  were  they  to 
unite  in  a  separate  confederacy,  would  be  without  the 
elements  of  power,  indispensable  in  the  formation  of  a 
government  to  take  a  respectable  rank  among  the  nations 
of  the  earth. 

Because  I  believe  that  peaceable  secession  is  a  right 
unknown  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States ;  that 
it  is  a  most  dangerous  and  mischievous  principle  in  the 
structure  of  any  government ;  and  when  carried  into  the 
formation  of  the  contemplated  Confederacy  of  the  Gulf 
States  will  render  it  powerless  for  good,  and  complete  its 
incapacity  to  afford  the  people  permanent  security  for 
their  lives,  liberty  and  property. 

Because  it  is  my  solemn  and  deliberate  conviction  that 
the  distraction  of  the  Southern  States  by  separate  seces 
sion  will  defeat  the  purpose  it  is  intended  to  accomplish, 
and  that  its  certain  results  will  be  to  impair  instead  of 
strengthening  the  security  of  Southern  institutions. 

Because  the  proper  status  of  Louisiana  is  with  the  bor 
der  States,  with  which  nature  has  connected  her  by  the 
majestic  river  which  flows  through  her  limits  ;  and  because 
an  alliance  in  a  weak  government  with  the  Gulf  States 


96  THE  REBELLION: 

east  of  her  is  unnatural  and  antagonistic  to  her  obvious 
interests  and  destiny. 

Because,  by  separate  secession,  the  State  relinquishes 
all  its,  rights  within  the  Government,  it  surrenders  its 
equal  rights  to  the  common  territories — to  the  vast  public 
domain  of  the  United  States,  and  to  the  property  of  every 
kind  belonging  to  the  Nation.  And  for  this  reason  I  op 
pose  secession  as  being  emphatically  submission. 

Because  secession  may  bring  'anarchy  and  war,  as  it 
will  assuredly  bring  ruinous  exactions  upon  property,  in 
the  form  of  direct  taxation,  a  withering  blight  upon  the 
prosperity  of  the  State,  and  a  fatal  prostration  of  all  its 
great  interests. 

Because,  the  act  of  dissolving  the  ties  which  connect 
Louisiana  with  the  Federal  Union  is  a  revolutionary  act, 
that  this  Convention  is,  of  itself,  without  legitimate  power 
to  perform.  Convened  without  authority  from  the  peo 
ple  of  the  State,  and  refusing  to  submit  its  action  to  them 
for  their  sanction  in  the  grave  and  vital  act  of  changing 
their  government,  this  Convention  violates  the  great  and 
fundamental  principle  of  American  government,  that  the 
will  of  the  people  is  supreme. 

JAMES  G-.  TALIAFERRO, 
Delegate  from  the  Parish  of  Catahoula. 

Mr.  Barker  witnessed  with  deep  regret  and  serious 
apprehension  the  frightful  secession  feeling  which  con 
tinued  to  pervade  this  community,  yet  he  did  hope  until 
the  last  moment,  that  the  horrors  of  war  might  be 
avoided.  For  the  purpose  of  staying,  if  possible,  the  wild  • 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  97 

storm  that  threatened  to  desolate  the  whole  country,  and 
considering  that  the  first  hostile  gun  fired  would  kindle  a 
quenchless  flame,  immediately  before  the  fatal  attack  on 
Fort  Surnter  he  caused  to  be  published  in  the  Picayune, 
of  the  17th  of  January,  1861,  the  following  article: 

Editors  of  the  Picayune — Your  remarks  about  block 
ades  and  embargoes  may  lead  your  readers  to  apprehend 
further  embarrassments  in  the  commerce  of  New  Orleans 
than  await  us. 

It  is  not  believed  that  those  in  power,  or  coming  into 
power,  at  "Washington  in  March,  will  resort  to  either,  or 
cause  a  hostile  gun  to  be  fired  unless  attacked.  They 
will  doubtless  allow  free  importation  as  well  as  free  ex 
portation  from  the  seceding  States,  requiring  all  vessels 
from  foreign  ports  with  dutiable  goods  to  call  at  a  port 
where  the  laws  of  the  United  States  are  recognized,  and 
pay  the  duties  on  such  goods,  after  which  to  be  allowed 
to  pursue  their  voyage  as  originally  intended.  Beyond 
this,  it  is  understood  the  seceding  States  will  be  allowed 
to  pursue  their  own  course. 

As  to  France,  England  or  any  other  Power  permitting 
a  blockade,  their  views  will  not  be  consulted,  or  allowed 
to  weigh  a  feather  in  the  scale  with  any  party  that  hopes 
to  gain  or  retain  the  approbation  of  the  American  people. 

MENTOR. 

Every  effort  to  avert  the  calamity  of  war  failed.  The 
Confederates  commenced  it  by  the  attack  on  Fort  Sumter. 
It  raged  thereafter  with  uncommon  pertinacity  on  both 

7 


98  THE  REBELLION: 

sides.  Mr.  Barker,  considering  himself  a  non-combatant, 
did  not  take  part  therein,  confining  himself  mainly  to 
vindicating  the  rights  of  sufferers,  and  particularly  of 
those  of  the  ladies  of  New  Orleans.  HF  father,  Robert 
Barker,  of  Nantucket  was  a  rebel,  who,  on  account  of  the 
exposed  situation  of  that  island,  retired  therefrom  with 
his  family  at  the  commencement  of  the  Revolutionary 
troubles,  locating  on  Swan  Island,  in  Kennebeck  river, 
where  his  son,  Jacob  Barker,  was  born  on  the  17th  De 
cember,  1779,  and  where  his  father  died  in  April,  1780. 
After  our  independence  was  acknowledged  by  Great 
Britain,  and  peace  restored,  Jacob's  mother,  Sarah 
Barker,  born  Folger,  at  Nantucket — a  blood  relation 
of  Doctor  Franklin — returned  to  that  Island  with  her 
family  in  1785.  Jacob,  during  his  minority,  was  under 
the  care  of  the  religious  Society  of  Friends,  denomi 
nated  Quakers.  Although  not  a  member  by  birthright, 
from  their  tuition  he  imbibed  an  aversion  to  war  which 
has  continued  through  his  long  life.  That  good  lady 
taught  her  son'  how  to  secure  independence  by  telling 
him,  when  thirsty,  to  take  a  glass,  go  to  the  pump  and 
help  thyself. 

During  the  administrations  of  Jefferson  and  Madison 
he  advocated  commercial  restrictions  as  the  best  manner 
of  obtaining  redress  for  national  wrongs.  The  peaceable 
principles  of  the  said  society  may  be  seen  by  the  perusal 
of  the  following  memorial : 

THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  QUAKERS'  MEMORIAL. 

The  Raleigh  (N.  C.)  Standard  gives  the  following : 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  99 

"At  a  stated  Meeting  for  Sufferings,  representing 
Yearly  Meeting  of  Friends,  held  at  Deep  river,  on  the 
14th  of  Fourth  month,  1862,  the  subject  of  our  present 
sufferings,  on  account  of  our  conscientious  scruples  against 
bearing  arms,  claiming  the  deliberate  consideration  of  the 
Meeting,  and  believing  it  right  to  embrace  our  privilege 
to  petition  those  in  authority,  we  therefore  adopt  the 
following  : 
11  To  the  Convention  of  North  Carolina, 

in  Convention  assembled: 

"Your  petitioners  respectfully  show  that  it  is  one  of 
our  fundamental  religious  principles  to  bear  a  faithful 
testimony  against  all  wars  and  fightings,  and  that  in  con 
sequence  we  cannot  aid  in  carrying  on  any  carnal  war. 

"This  is  no  new  principle  of  our  society,  but  one  which 
was  adopted  at  its  rise,  as  the  doctrine  taught  by  our 
Saviour  and  followed  by  his  disciples  for  more  than  two 
hundred  years,  and  has  ever  been  and  is  now  held  as  one 
of  our  fundamental  and  vital  principles,  and  one  that  we 
cannot  yield  or  compromise  in  any  degree  whatever. 

"We  would  further  show  that  the  whole  number  of 
our  members  in  the  Confederate  States  is  less  than  ten 
thousand,  while  in  the  United  States  the  number  proba 
bly  exceeds  two  hundred  thousand,  who  bear  the  same 
testimony  against  all  wars  and  fightings ;  and  that  in  every 
nation  and  clime  where  our  society  exists,  it  is  at  this 
day,  as  heretofore,  maintaining  this  precious  principle  of 
peace,  and  that  we  everywhere  in  this  respect  speak  the 
same  language  and  mind  the  same  thing. 


100  THE  REBELLION: 

"We  may  further  show  that,  according  to  the  best  in 
formation  we  can  obtain,  until  the  present  time,  Friends 
of  North  Carolina  have  not  been  called  on  to  aid  in  the 
battle  field  or  military  camp ;  but  now  our  peaceful  prin 
ciples  are  in  a  measure  disregarded,  and  many  of  our 
members  are  drafted  to  take  part  in  the  conflicting 
armies,  while  we  understand  that  our  brethren  in  the 
United  States  are  not. 

"W^e  have  enlisted  under  the  banner  of  the  Captain  of 
our  souls'  salvation,  Jesus  Christ,  the  Prince  of  Peace  : 
therefore,  in  obedience  to  His  express  command,  we 
cannot  fight,  or  aid  directly  or  indirectly  in  any  carnal 
wars.  But  your  petitioners  would  represent  to  you  that 
we  believe  it  to  be  our  moral  and  religious  duty  to  sub 
mit  to  the  government  under  which  we  live,  and  to  the 
laws  and  powers  that  be,  or  suffer  patiently  their  pen 
alties. 

"We  love  our  homes  and  our  country  much,  but  at  the 
same  time  we  love  our  religious  principles  more  ;  there 
fore  your  petitioners  would  most  respectfully  ask  that 
you  grant  us  the  enjoyment  of  this  important  religious 
principle. 

"We  own  to  no  god  but  the  God  of  love,  truth,  peace, 
mercy  and  judgment,  whose  blessings  we  invoke,  and 
whose  wisdom  we  implore  to  be  with  you  in  your  legisla 
tive  deliberations. 

"Signed  on  behalf  and  by  direction  of  the  meeting. 
"NATHAN  F.  SPENCER,  Clerk/' 


ITS   CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  101 

Mr.  Madison,  near  the  close  of  his  first  term,  recom 
mended  a  declaration  of  war  against  Great  Britain,  and 
an  embargo,  as  a  preparatory  measure.  The  embargo 
was  adopted,  for  ninety  days.  Mr.  Madison  was  nomi 
nated  for  a  second  term.  A  majority  of  the  Democrats 
of  the  State  of  New  York  preferred  DeWitt  Clinton  for 
the  Presidency.  The  Federalists,  despairing  of  their 
ability  to  elect  a  member  of  their  own  party,  resolved  to 
support  Mr.  Clinton. 

A  majority  of  the  Democratic  party  of  the  State,  in 
cluding  Chief  Justice  Spencer  and  Martin  Yan  Bur  en, 
united,  they  insisting  that  war  should  be  declared  against 
France,  or  against  both  France  and  England.  Mr.  Clinton 
considered  the  recommendation  of  war  against  Great 
Britain  a  political  device  to  secure  the  re-election  of 
Madison,  and  that  he  had  no  belief  that  Congress  would 
adopt  the  measure  he  recommended.  They  were  disap 
pointed  by  a  declaration  of  war  against  Great  Britain, 
which  took  place  on  the  IGth  June,  1812.  On  the  hap 
pening  of  that  event,  Chief  Justice  Spencer,  and  many 
other  of  Mr.  Clinton's  personal  political  friends,  urged 
him  to  withdraw  his  name  as  a  candidate  for  the  Presi 
dency,  to  which  he  had  been  nominated  by  the  Demo- 
% 

crutic  party  of  the  State.  This,  being  assured  of  the 
support  of  the  Federal  party,  he  refused  to  do ;  which 
caused  an  estrangement  between  the  brothers  Spencer 
and  Clinton,  which  continued  until  after  the  close  of  the 
war,  when  a  reconciliation  took  place  by  the  interposition 
of  Mr.  Barker ;  from  which  time  until  the  day  of  their 


102  THE  REBELLION: 

death,  those  two  distinguished  men  continued  the  devoted 
friends  of  each  other  and  of  Mr.  Barker,  although  the 
political  views   of  the  Chief  Justice  often  differed  from 
those  entertained  by  Mr.  Barker,  and  both  fearlessly  put 
forth  their  opinions,  and  severally  sustained  the  political 
parties  to   which  they  were  attached,  with   uncommon 
zeal.     Mr.  Clinton  and  Mr.  Yan  Buren  both  sustained  the 
war.      They  differed   in  their  views  in  relation  to  the 
measures   adopted  for  carrying   it  on,  which  estranged 
them  from  each  other.      Mr.  Yan  Buren,  sustaining  the 
administration,   became   the    opponent  of  Mr.   Clinton's 
political  views.     The  political  campaign  progressed  with 
great  ardor.      The  parties  became  very  violent.      The 
legislature   met  for   the  appointment  of  electors.      Mr. 
Barker  was,  with  Colonel  Rutgers,  Colonel  Willett,  and 
others,  appointed,  at  Tammany  Hall,  delegates  to  attend 
a  Democratic  convention  at  Albany  for  the  nomination  of 
electors.     The  friends  of  the  two  candidates  in  the  legis 
lature,  held  separate  meetings.     According  to  the  best  of 
Mr.  Barker's  recollection,  Mr.  Yan  Buren  presided  at  the 
meeting  of  the  friends  of  Mr.  Clinton  ;  and  Nathan  San- 
ford,  a  Senator  from  New  York,  presided  at  that  of  the 
friends  of  Mr.  Madison.     The  former,  having  a  majority, 
and  assured  of  the  support  of  the  Federalists  at  the  elec 
tion,    declined   all   propositions   for  a  compromise,   and 
nominated  an  entire  ticket  friendly  to  the  election  of  their 
chief,  who  were  elected  by  the  aid  of  Federal  votes. 

Mr.  Yan  Buren  was  esteemed  the  master-spirit  of  the 
whole  affair.     Mr.  Barker  remonstrated  with  him  against 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  103 

their  course,  remarking  that  he1  would,  if  they  persisted, 
plan  a  pamphlet,  describing  their  coalition  with  the  Fed 
eralists,  in  every  hamlet  in  the  State.  This  had  no  influ 
ence.  Mr.  Yan  Buren  was  not  to  be  diverted  from  the 
course  he  had  adopted,  vainly  imagining  that  it  would  be 
successful. 

Pending  the  debates  in  Congress  on  the  question  of 
war,  Dr.  Mitchel,  a  member  from  the  city  of  New  York, 
being  opposed  to  war,  addressed  a  letter  to  the  Tammany 
Society,  in  the  hope  of  having  his  views  sustained  by  that 
patriotic  body.  He  asked  them,  among  other  things,  if 
they  were  prepared  to  abandon  their  fruitful  maratime 
pursuits  in  exchange  for  the  frozen  regions  of  Canada. 
To  whieh  they  promptly  replied,  in  effect,  that  the 
Nation's  honor  must  be  sustained  at  every  hazard. 

About  the  same  time,  Mr.  Barker  received  from  a  cor 
respondent  in  England,  letters  which  indicated  that  the 
British  ministry  would  very  soon  rescind  the  orders  in 
council,  when  he  drafted  a  petition  asking  Congress  to 
continue  the  embargo  and  defer  a  declaration  of  war  for 
a  short  period,  which  was  signed  by  men  of  both  political 
parties,  of  the  greatest  respectability,  to  whom  he  ex 
hibited  those  letters.  The  petition  was  presented  to  the 
Senate  by  Mr.  Smith,  a  member  from  New  York,  the  day 
before  war  was  declared ;  which,  on  motion  of  Colonel 
Taylor,  of  South  Carolina,  was  ordered  to  be  printed. 
The  petition  and  speech  of  Colonel  Taylor  in  relation 
thereto  were  as  follows  : 


104  THE  REBELLION: 

[From  Niles's  Register,  Vol.  II,  page  278.] 
TWELFTH   CONGRESS. 

IN  SENATE — Monday,  June  15,  1812. — Mr.  Smith,  of 
New  York,  presented  the  following  petition  of  sundry 
inhabitants,  merchants  and  others,  of  the  city  of  New 
York,  praying  that  the  embargo  and  non-importation 
laws  might  be  continued  as  a  substitute  for  war  against 
Great  Britain  : 

MEMORIAL.  . 

To  the  Honorable,  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives 
of  the  United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled, 
the  memorial  of  the  subscribers,   merchants  and  others, 
inhabitants  of  the  city  of  New  York,  respectfully  sheiueth  : 
''That  your  memorialists  feel,   in  common  with  the 
rest  of  their  fellow-citizens,  an  anxious  solicitude  for  the 
honor  and  interests  of  their  country,  and  an  equal  deter 
mination  to  assert  and  maintain  them ; 

"That  your  memorialists  believe  that  a  continuation 
of  the  restrictive  measures  now  in  operation  will  produce 
all  the  benefits,  while  it  prevents  the  calamities  of  war ; 

"That  when  the  British  ministry  become  convinced 
that  a  trade  with  the  United  States  cannot  be  renewed 
but  by  the  repeal  of  the  orders  in  council,  the  distress  of 
their  merchants  and  manufacturers,  and  their  inability  to 
support  their  armies  in  Spain  and  Portugal,  will,  proba 
bly,  compel  them  to  that  measure. 

"Your  memorialists  beg  leave  to  remark  that  such 
effects  are  even  now  visible ;  and  it  may  be  reasonably 
hoped  that  a  continuance  of  the  embargo  and  iion-im- 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC. 


105 


portation  laws,  a  few  months  beyond  the  fourth  day  of 
July  next,  will  effect  a  complete  and  bloodless  triumph 
of  our  rights. 

"Your  memorialists,  therefore,  respectfully  solicit  of 
your  honorable  body  the  passage  of  a  law  continuing  the 
embargo,  and  giving  to  the  President  of  the  United  States 
power  to  discontinue  the  whole  of  the  restrictive  system 
on  the  rescinding  of  the  British  orders  in  Council. 

«  T1^3  conduct  of  France,  in  burning  our  ships,  in  se 
questrating  our  property  entering  her  ports  expecting 
protection  in  consequence  of  the  promised  repeal  of  the 
Berlin  and  Milan  decrees,  and  the  delay  in  completing  a 
treaty  with  the  American  minister,  has  excited  great  sen 
sation,  and  we  hope  and  trust  will  call  forth  from  your 
honorable  body  such  retaliatory  measures  as  may  be  best 
calculated  to  procure  justice. 

After  the  same  was  read  Mr.  Taylor  said  that  "the 
respectability  of  the  subscribers  to  a  petition  presented  to 
this  body,  and  the  importance  of  the  matter  therein  con 
tained,  had,  on  various  occasions,  been  used  as  induce 
ments  to  us  to  give  such  a  petition  a  respectful  disposition 
in  the  course  of  our  proceedings.  He  recollected  a  case 
in  point.  It  was  the  case  of  the  petition  of  an  eminent 
merchant  of  Massachusetts,  presented  by  an  honorable 
Senator  from  that  State,  and  which,  at  the  suggestion  of 
that  honorable  gentleman,  was  by  the  Senate  ordered  to 
be  printed.  He  was  of  opinion  that  the  petition  just  read 
ought  not  to  be  treated  with  less  attention ;  that  he  had 
seen  the  petition  and  inquired  into  the  character  of  its 


106  THE  REBELLION: 

subscribers,  and  had  been  informed  that  the  fifty-six 
subscribers  to  it  were  among  the  most  respectable, 
wealthy,  and  intelligent  merchants  of  the  city  of  New 
York.  There  are  to  be  found  in  that  list  the  names  of 
two  presidents  of  banks,  three  presidents  of  insurance 
companies,  thirteen  directors  of  banks,  besides  other 
names  of  pre-eminent  standing  in  the  mercantile  world. 
They  had  all  united  in  the  sentiments  contained  in  the 
petition,  notwithstanding  that  there  existed  among  them 
a  difference  of  political  opinions,  for  he  understood  that 
of  the  petitioners  forty-two  were  Federal  and  sixteen 
Republican.  Mr.  T.  added  that  he  considered  some  of  the 
senmments  contained  in  ihe  petition  as  of  the  highest 
importance.  He  hailed  it  as  an  auspicious,  occurrence 
that  these  honorable  merchants,  in  praying  that  the  evils 
of  war  might  be  averted  from  them  and^  from  the  Nation, 
had,  nevertheless,  held  fast  to  the  principles  of  resistance 
to  the  aggressions  and  unhallowed  conduct  of  Great 
Britain  towards  our  Nation ;  and  had  exercised  the  candor 
and  frankness  to  bear  testimony  to  the  efficiency  of  the 
restrictive  system  for  obtaining  a  redress  of  our  wrongs 
and,  of  course,  the  integrity  and  honor  of  those  who  had 
imposed  this  system  for  that  purpose.  He  hoped  that 
the  example  of  these  petitioners  would  tend  to  counteract 
those  strenuous  and  unremitting  exertions  of  passion, 
prejudice,  and  party  feeling  which  had  attempted  to 
stamp  upon  the  majority  in  Congress  the  foul  and  unjust 
censure  of  being  enemies  to  commerce ;  that,  however 
unfashionable  and  obstinate  it  might  appear,  he  still  be- 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  EEC.  107 

lieved  that  the  embargo  and  non-importation  laws,  if 
faithfully  executed,  were  capable  of  reaching  further  than 
our  cannon.  We  are,  at  this  very  time,  tendering  an 
urgent  argument — an  argument  to  be  felt  by  each  city, 
village  and  hamlet  in  England.  This,  touching  to  the 
quick  the  vital  interests  of  that  empire,  would  demon 
strate  to  the  people,  at  least,  the  folly  and  absurdity  of 
the  orders  in  council.  The  ordeal  of  the  twenty  weeks 
of  scarcity  which  the  people  of  that  unhappy  country  are 
undergoing,  to  relieve  which,  but  for  the  madness  and 
folly  of  their  rulers,  every  yard  of  American  canvas 
would  be  spread  to  the  gales ;  the  thousands  of  starving 
manufacturers  thrown  out  of  employ  for  want  of  our 
custom,  which  custom,  but  for  the  injustice  of  their  mas 
ters,  we  were  willing  to  give,  now  feel  the  efficiency  of  the 
restrictive  system.  These  matter-of-fact  arguments  want 
no  sophistry  nor  long  speeches  to  give  them  weight.  But 
Great  Britain  is  proud  and  will  never  yield  to  this  sort 
of  pressure.  Hunger  has  no  law.  Where  was  her  pride 
during  the  last  war,  when  she  exported  to  her  enemy  on 
the  continent  more  than  eleven  millions  of  pounds  sterling 
for  provisions,  and,  meanly  truckling  to  her  enemy,  con 
sented  to  buy  the  privilege  of  laying  out  her  guineas  for 
bread,  and  actually  submitted,  on  the  compulsion  of  Na 
poleon,  to  buy  the  wines,  brandies  and  silks  of  France, 
which  she  did  not  want.  This  restrictive  system,  when 
commenced  under  the  former  embargo  law,  encountered 
every  opposition  among  ourselves  which  selfish  avarice, 
which  passion  and  party  rage,  could  suggest ;  and  so  sue- 


108  THE  REBELLION: 

• 

cessful  were  its  assailants  that,  while  it  was  operating 
with  its  fullest  effects,  (which  the  prices  current  of  that 
day  will  show,)  some  of  its  greatest  champions  in  the 
National  Legislature  abandoned  it ;  yes,  sir,  in  the  tide  of 
victory  they  threw  down  their  arms.  How  are  the  mighty 
fallen  and  the  shield  of  the  mighty  vilely  cast  away.  The 
disavowal  of  Erskine's  arrangement  was  the  consequence 
of  this  retreat.  But  it  may  be  said  that  the  sentiments 
in  the  petition  were  extorted  by  the  apprehension  of  a 
greater  evil — war.  In  all  our  trials  those  who  had  not 
predetermined  to  submit  to  Great  Britain  must  have  an 
ticipated  this  alternative.  Let  those  who,  by  their  acri 
mony,  sneers,  and  scoffs,  have  thrown  away  this  chief 
defence  of  our  Nation  be  held  responsible  for  the  com 
pulsion  they  have  imposed  on  us  to  take  this  dire  alter 
native.  He  said  that  though  he  was  unwilling  to  abate 
a  single  pang  which  we  might  legally  inflict  upon  our 
enemy,  and  might,  at  the  proper  time,  oppose  anything 
like  the  swap  proposed  of  one  system  for  another,  when 
we  had  the  power  and  the  right  to  impose  upon  our 
enemy  both  the  one  and  the  other,  he  nevertheless 
thought  the  petition  was  deserving  of  the  attention  which 
he  now  moved  it  should  receive.  He  moved  that  the 
petition  should  be  printed ;  which  was  agreed  to." 


The  petition  came  too  late  ;  the  war  party  could  not 
recede  or  delay  the  measures  they  had  resolved  on.  The 
war  was  declared  on  the  16th  of  June,  1812,  and  the  orders 
in  council  were  rescinded  on  the  7th  of  July  following, 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  109 

before  news  of  the  war  reached  England,  thus  establishing 
the  power  of  the  restrictive  measures.  Congress,  on  a 
previous  occasion,  empowered  the  President,  in  case  the 
orders  in  council  should  be  revoked  during  the  recess,  to 
annul,  by  proclamation,  the  non-importation  law ;  and  so 
confident  were  the  British  ministry  that  he  would  suspend 
the  war  as  soon  as  he  heard  of  the  repeal  of  the  orders 
in  council,  they  having  been  repealed  before  the  war  was 
known  in  England,  they  did  not  send  a  fleet  to  our  coast 
for  more  than  three  months — ocean  steamboat  navigation 
being  not  then  known. 

In  this  confidence  the  United  States  minister  at  London 
participated  to  such  an  extent  as  to  authorizing  the  load 
ing  of  all  the  American  ships  then  in  England  with  British 
fabrics  for  the  United  States.  They  sailed  under  British 
licenses  and  arrived  in  the  United  States  safe.  A  great 
drought  occurred  at  the  same  time  in  China,  interrupting 
the  navigation  of  her  rivers,  so  that  teas  and  other  of 
her  products  could  not  reach  Canton  for  a  long  time ;  this 
detained  a  large  fleet  of  American  ships  at  Canton  until 
after  the  news  of  the  war  reached  that  place. 

These  measures  combined  saved  the  insurance  com 
panies,  the  ship  owners,  and  the  importers  of  British 
fabrics  from  ruin,  which  seemed  to  be  their  impending 
fate  when  the  war  was  declared. 

Mr.  Madison  did  not  feel  authorized  to  suspend  the 
war,  or  relax  the  non-importation  law.  He  said  the  war 
having  been  declared,  it  must  be  continued  until  other 
matters  were  settled. 


110  THE  REBELLION: 

When  these  ships  arrived  they,  with  their  cargoes,  were 
forfeited  to  the  United  States  by  the  provisions  of  the 
non-importation  laws.,  which  remained  in  full  force. 

This  immense  amount  of  property  was  released  on 
bond,  and  these  bonds  were  cancelled,  on  the  payment  of 
the  duties,  by  an  act  of  Congress,  which  passed,  after  a 
hard  struggle,  by  the  casting  vote  of  the  Hon.  Langdon 
Chevis,  of  South  Carolina,  then  the  Speaker  of  the  House 
of  .Representatives.  To  the  very  great  and  praiseworthy 
exertions  of  that  distinguished  man  the  merchants  in  gen 
eral  were  indebted  for  their  escape  from  ruin. 

War  being  declared  against  Great  Britain,  Mr.  Barker 
thought  a  vigorous  prosecution  of  it  the  most  likely  way 
to  procure  an  honorable  peace,  furnishing  the  empty 
treasury  with  more  than  five  millions  of  dollars  in  specie 
or  its  equivalent,  while  most  others,  particularly  the  New 
England  banks,  drew  tight  their  purse  strings.  So  well 
satisfied  were  the  citizens  of  New  York  with  the  course 
pursued  by  Mr.  Barker  that  they,  immediately  after  the 
close  of  Ihe  war,  elected  him  a  member  of  the  Senate  of 
that  State.  At  that  time,  among  the  required  qualifica 
tions  of  voters  for  Senators  was  to  be  a  freeholder.  A 
majority  of  that  class  had  never  before  been  had  for  a 
Democratic  candidate  in  the  Southern  district  of  New 
York. 

Soon  after  the  commencement  of  the  late  war  New 
Orleans  was  blockaded.  Commerce  had  been  very  much 
depressed,  and  certain  individuals  seemed  to  set  all  law 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  Ill 

and  authority  at  defiance.  Among  other  things  they 
attempted  to  close  the  establishments  of  those  who  dealt 
in  gold,  silver,  stocks,  etc.,  in  which  they  were  partly 
successful.  Mr.  Barker  resisted,  and  continued  his  busi 
ness,  when  the  following  articles  appeared  in  the  Xew 
Orleans  Picayune  : 

THE     BROKERS. 
[From  the  New  Orleans  Picayune.  March  9,  1862. 

We  are  informed  that  certain  individuals  took  upon 
themselves  to  circulate  an  anonymous  placard  denouncing 
the  dealers  in  gold  and  silver  obnoxious  to  public  indig 
nation,  and  to  call  on  them  personally,  demanding  that 
they  should  discontinue  their  business,  which  they  were 
conducting  under  license  from  the  State  and  city  authori 
ties,  for  which  license  they  had  paid  large  sums  of  money. 
.  This  assumption  of  power  is  highly  reprehensible.  If 
the  business  is  deemed  prejudicial,  the  Governor  or  Mayor 
should  issue  a  proclamation  suspending  the  operation  of 
the  license,  returning  to  the  dealers  a  due  proportion  of 
the  money  they  have  paid  therefor. 

If  the  Board  of  Currency,  the  Governor,  Mayor,  or  a 
committee  from  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  had  called  on 
the  dealers  in  coin,  suggesting  to  them  that  their  traffic 
was  considered  injurious  to  public  credit,  they  would, 
with  one  accord,  have  cheerfully  discontinued  that  busi 
ness.  This  would  have  been  far  better  than  for  anony 
mous  individuals  to  have  attempted  to  overthrow  it  by 
mob  law. 

However  praiseworthy  the  motives  of  these  individuals 


112  THE  REBELLION: 

may  be,  they  may  not  have  well  considered  the  operation 
of  the  interdiction  they  wish  to  enforce. 

The  question  to  be  considered  is,  when  the  public  find 
that  they  are  not  allowed  to  exchange  their  bank  or 
currency  notes  for  gold  or  silver,  on  any  terms,  will  they 
be  more  willing  to  sell  their  merchandise  for  currency 
notes  than  if  no  such  obstacle  existed  ? 

If  the  dealers  are  not  allowed  to  purchase,  they  cannot 
supply  those  who  wish  to  convert  their  paper  into  gold 
and  silver.  They  are  not  men  who  hoard  it  up ;  the 
profit  of  their  business  consists  in  turning  it  over  rapidly. 

Monopolizing  salt,  flour,  pork  and  other  necessaries  of 
life,  and  supplying  the  army,  as  well  as  the  poor,  at  five 
or  ten  prices,  is  far  more  objectionable  than  dealing  in 
gold  and  silver.  A. 

REMARKS    BY   MR.    BARKER. 

Certain  individuals  object  to  the  dealing  in  gold  and 
silver  by  persons  duly  authorized,  under  licenses  from  the 
State  and  city  authorities,  to  conduct  such  business. 
Suppose  they  succeed  in  annulling  such  licenses,  the 
effect  will  be  to  place  those  in  moderate  circumstances, 
who  have  laid  by  a  few  dollars  in  gold  or  silver  to  use  in 
case  of  need,  at  tho  tender  mercy  of  street  runners,  who 
do  not  pay  rent,  and  others  who  act  without  license,  and 
who  monopolize  every  article  necessary  for  convenience 
or  consumption. 

How  are  the  poor  women,  who  have  been  provided 
with  gold  for  the  support  of  their  families  during  the 
absence  of  their  husbands  on  military  duty,  to  overcome 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  113 

• 

the  exorbitant  price  of  bread,  pork,  salt  and  soap,  if  they 
are  not  allowed  to  sell  their  gold? 

As  io  stopping  the  traffic,  it  is  not  possible,  any  more 
than  it  would  be  to  stop  the  course  of  the  Mississippi. 
These  men  were  told  by  an  article,  authoritatively  pub 
lished  in  the  Picayune  on  Sunday,  the  9th  of  March, 
1862,  that  the  licensed  dealers  would  cheerfully  discon 
tinue  the  traffic,  on  the  suggestion  of  the  Governor, 
Mayor,  Board  of  Currency  or  the  Chamber  of  Commerce, 
that  it  was  deemed  prejudicial  to  public  good.  Further 
than  this  they  could  not  go,  without  sacrificing  that  indi 
vidual  independence  which  every  citizen  of  this  Confed 
eracy  should  maintain,  as  also  all  reverence  for  public 
authority.  Martial  law  being  now  proclaimed,  the  subject 
may  be  referred  to  Gen.  Lovell,  or  to  the  Provost  Mar 
shals.  If  they  should  think  that  public  good  required  a 
discontinuance  in  dealing  in  gold  and  silver,  their  wishes 
will  be  complied  with. 

The  price  of  gold  and  silver,  like  that  of  all  other 
articles  of  necessity,  depends  on  supply  and  demand. 
This  great  regulator  of  trade  cannot  be  successfully  re 
sisted.  The  precious  metals  are  not  made  scarce  by  the 
purchases  made  by  the  dealers.  They  do  not  purchase 
to  hoard,  but  to  resell.  The  profits  depend  on  the  rapid 
ity  with  which  they  turn  it  over. 


These  proceedings  were  reported  to  the  Hon.  John  T. 
Monroe,  Mayor  of  the  city  of  New  Orleans,  who  had  co 
operated  with  Mr.  Barker  in  opposing  secession.      He 
8 


114  THE  REBELLION: 

approved  the  resistance  made,  and  promised  to  send  a 
police  force  to  protect  his  ba;ik,  which  was  done  on  the 
following  day.  After  the  surrender,  he  was  sent  to  Fort 
Pickens  by  General  Butler,  when,  on  the  application  of 
Mrs.  Monroe,  Mr.  Barker  gave  a  certificate  in  the  words 
following : 

"  CERTIFICATE. 

' '  These  are  to  certify  that  my  bank  was  placarded  at 
night,  on  or  about  the  12th  April  ult.,  by  a  lot  of  men 
who  had  combined  together,  styling  themselves  the 
Southern  Independence  Association.  On  the  following 
day  they  presented  themselves  at  my  bank,  demanding 
that  I  should  discontinue  my  business,  saying  it  was  in 
jurious  to  the  Southern  Confederacy.  I  defied  them,  and 
continued  my  business,  and  called  on  Mayor  Monroe  for 
protection  against  the  threatened  violence  of  the  mob. 
The  Mayor  approved  of  my  course,  advised  me  not  to 
yield  to  fheir  unlawful  requirements,  and  promised  to 
send  police  officers  to  protect  me,  which  he  did  on  the 
following  day,  and  thus  were  these  men  restrained  from 
further  action  in  the  matter.  JACOB  BARKER. 

"New  Orleans,  23d  May,  1862." 

Being  disappointed  in  his  efforts  to  avert  the  great 
calamity,  Mr.  Barker,  with  the  co-operating  party  to  a 
man,  went  in  for  a  separate  Confederacy  as  preferable  to 
a  continuation  of  the  war,  although  he  never  believed  we 
could  get  as  good  security  for  the  institution  of  slavery 
as  we  had  under  the  old  Constitution.  And  he  supposed. 
if  granted  to  the  then  few  seceding  States,  they  would, 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  115 

after  a  few  years'  trial,  return  under  the  Star  Spangled 
Banner ;  and  vainly  supposing  he  could  promote  the 
cause  of  peace  and  good  will  to  his  fellow-men,  he  pro 
cured  from  the  authorities  of  this  city  a  pass  from  New 
Orleans  to  New  York  and  back. 

With  this  pass  he  travelled  in  Pennsylvania,  New  Yorkr 
Connecticut  and  Massachusetts,  pointing  out  to  those 
deluded  men  the  mischief  they  were  doing  the  colored 
race  ;  the  certainty  there  was  of  a  long  war  if  they  med 
dled  with  the  slavery  question;  the  folly  of  wasting 
countless  millions,  and  sacrificing  the  lives  of  thousands 
of  the  flower  of  the  Nation,  entreating  them  to  agree  to 
a  separate  Confederacy. 

It  was  all  in  vain,  and  he  returned,  telling  his  fellow - 
citizens  that  our  dependence  for  recognition  must  be  on 
the  bravery  and  skill  of  our  soldiers ;  that  the  public  mind 
at  the  North  was  equally  decided  as  that  at  the  South  ; 
that  the  question  must  be  decided  on  the  field  of  battle  ; 
that  the  sooner  they  abandoned  the  Quixotic  notion  of 
foreign  interference  the  better. 

On  or  about  the  1st  of  May,  1862,  the  Star  Spangled 
Banner  was  again  unfurled  in  New  Orleans  by  Admiral 
Farragut  and  General  Butler.  The  panic  which  ensued 
can  be  more  easily  imagined  than  described.  Steamboats, 
ships,  cotton,  sugar,  molasses,  tobacco,  were  given  to  the 
flames  or  otherwise  destroyed.  Fearing  confiscation  or 
mob  violence,  most  of  the  banks  had  the  folly  to  send 
their  specie — countless  millions — into  the  Confederacy, 
where  it  was.  lost.  Our  late  worthy  fellow-citizen,  J.  D. 


116  THE  REBELLION: 

Denegre,  Esq.,  who  was  then  president  of  the  Citizens7 
Bank,  and  his  associates,  were  too  wise  thus  to  sacrifice 
the  institution  entrusted  to  their  management,  they  re 
tained  its  specie — near  four  millions  of  dollars.  To  their 
sagacity  is  to  be  ascribed  the  present  sound  condition  of 
the  bank. 


On  the  arrival  of  Gen.  Butler,  he  issued  the  following 
PROCLAMATION : 

HEADQUARTERS  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  GULF,  ) 
New  Orleans,  May  1,  1862.          ) 

The  city  of  New  Orleans  and  its  environs,  with  all  its 
interior  and  exterior  defences,  having  been  surrendered 
to  the  combined  naval  and  land  forces  of  the  United 
States,  and  having  been  evacuated  by  the  rebel  forces  in 
whose  possession  they  lately  were,  and  being  now  in 
occupation  of  the  forces  of  the  United  States,  who  have 
come  to  restore  order,  maintain  public  tranquility,  enforce 
peace  and  quiet  under  the  laws  and  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  the  Major  General  commanding  the  forces 
of  the  United  States  in  the  Department  of  the  Gulfr 
hereby  makes  known  and  proclaims  the  object  and  pur 
poses  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States  in  thus 
taking  possession  of  the  city  of  New  Orleans  and  the 
State  of  Louisiana,  and  the  rules  and  regulations  by 
which  the  laws  of  the  United  States  will  be  for  the 
present  and  during  a  state  of  war  enforced  and  main 
tained,  for  the  plain  guidance  of  all  good  citizens  of  the 


ITS   CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  117 

United  States,  as  well  as  others  who  may  heretofore  have 
been  in  rebellion  against  their  authority. 

Thrice  before  has  the  city  of  New  Orleans  been  rescued 
from  the  hand  of  a  foreign  government,  and  still  more 
calamitous  domestic  insurrection,  by  the  money  and  arms 
of  the  United  States.  It  has  of  late  been  under  the 
military  control  of  the  rebel  forces,  claiming  to  be  the 
peculiar  friends  of  its  citizens,  and  at  each  time,  in  the 
judgment  of  the  commander  of  the  military  forces  holding 
it,  it  has  been  found  necessary  to  preserve  order  and 
maintain  quiet  by  the  administration  of  Law  Martial. 
Even  during  the  interim  from  its  evacuation  by  the  rebel 
soldiers  and  its  actual  possession  by  the  soldiers  of  the 
United  States,  the  civil  authorities  of  the  city  have  found 
it  necessary  to  call  for  the  intervention  of  an  armed  body 
known  as  the  "European  Legion,"  to  preserve  public 
tranquility.  The  Commanding  General,  therefore,  will 
cause  the  city  to  be  governed  until  the  restoration  of 
Municipal  Authority,  and  his  further  orders,  by  the  Law 
Martial,  a  measure  for  which  it  would  seem  the  previous 
recital  furnishes  sufficient  precedents. 

All  persons  in  arms  against  the  United  States  are 
required  to  surrender  themselves,  with  their  arms,  equip 
ments  aud  munitions  of  war.  The  body  known  as  the 
"European  Legion/7  not  being  understood  to  be  in  arms 
against  the  United  States,  but  organized  to  protect  the 
lives  and  property  of  the  citizens,  are  invited  still  to  co 
operate  with  the  forces  of  the  United  States  to  that  end, 
and,  so  acting,  will  not  be  included  in  the  terms  of  this 
order,  but  will  report  to  these  Headquarters. 


118  THE  REBELLION: 

All  flags,  ensigns  and  devices,  tending  to  uphold  any 

• 

authority  whatever,  save  the  flag  of  the  United  States 
and  the  flags  of  foreign  Consulates,  must  not  be  exhibited, 
but  suppressed.  The  American  Ensign,  the  emblem  of 
the  United  States,  must  be  treated  with  the  utmost 
deference  and  respect  by  all  persons,  under  pain  of  severe 
punishment. 

All  persons  well  disposed  towards  the  Government  of 
the  United  States,  who  shall  renew  their  oath  or  alle 
giance,  will  receive  the  safeguard  and  protection,  in  their 
persons  and  property,  of  the  armies  of  the  United  Stales, 
the  violation  of  which,  by  any  person,  is  punishable  with 
death. 

All  persons  still  holding  allegiance  to  the  Confederate 
States  will  be  deemed  rebels  against  the  Government  of 
the  United  States,  and  regarded  and  treated  as  enemies 

thereof. 

\ 

All  foreigners  not  naturalized  and  claiming  allegiance 
to  their  respective  Governments,  and  not  having  made 
oath  of  allegiance  to  the  supposed  Government  of  the 
Confederate  States,  will  be  protected  in  their  persons  and 
property  as  heretofore  under  the  laws  of  the  United 
States. 

All  persons  who  may  heretofore  have  given  their 
adherence  to  the  supposed  Government  of  the  Confed 
erate  States,  or  have  been  in  their  service,  who  shall  lay 
down  and  deliver  up  their  arms  and  return  to  peaceful 
occupations  and  preserve  quiet  and  order,  holding  no 
further  correspondence  nor  giving  aid  and  comfort  to  the 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  119 

enemies  of  the  United  States,  will  not  be  disturbed  either 
in  person  or  property,  except  so  far,  under  the  orders  of 
the  Commanding  General,  as  the  exigencies  of  the  public 
service  may  render  necessary. 

The  keepers  of  all  public  property,  whether  State, 
Xational  or  Confederate,  such  as  collections  of  art,  libra 
ries,  museums,  as  well  as  all  public  buildings,  all  muni 
tions  of  war,  and  armed  vessels,  will  at  once  make  full 
returns  thereof  to  these  Headquarters ;  all  manufacturers 
of  arms  and  munitions  of  war,  will  report  to  these  Head 
quarters  their  kind  and  places  of  business. 

All  rights  of  property,  of  whatever  kind,  will  be  held 
inviolate,  subject  only  to  the  laws  of  the  United  States. 

All  inhabitants  are  enjoined  to  pursue  their  usual  avo 
cations  ;  all*  shops  and  places  of  business  are  to  be  kept 
open  in  the  accustomed  manner,  and  services  to  be  had 
in  the  churches  and  religious  houses  as  in  times  of  pro 
found  peace. 

Keepers  of  all  public  houses,  coffee  houses  and  drinking 
saloons,  are  to  report  their  names  and  numbers  to  the 
office  of  the  Provost  Marshal ;  will  there  receive  license, 
and  be  held  responsible  for  all  disorders  and  disturbances 
of  the  peace  arising  in  their  respective  places. 

A  sufficient  force  will  be  kept  in  the  city  to  preserve 
order  and  maintain  the  laws. 

The  killing  of  an  American  soldier  by  any  disorderly 
person  or  mob,  is  simply  assassination  and  murder,  and 
not  war,  and  will  be  so  regarded  and  punished. 

The  owner  of  any  house  or  building  in  or  from  which 


120  THE  REBELLION: 

such  murder  shall  be  committed,  will  be  held  responsible 
therefor,  and  the  house  will  be  liable  to  be  destroyed  by 
the  military  authority. 

All  disorders  and  disturbances  of  the  peace  done  by 
combinations  and  numbers,  and  crimes  of  an  aggravated 
nature,  interfering  with  forces  or  laws  of  the  United 
States,  will  be  referred  to  a  military  court  for  trial  and 
punishment;  other , misdemeanors  will  be  subject  to  the 
municipal  authority,  if  it  chooses  to  act.  Civil  causes 
between  party  and  party  will  be  referred  to  the  ordinary 
tribunals.  The  levy  and  collection  of  all  taxes,  save  those 
imposed  by  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  aro  suppressed, 
except  those  for  keeping  in  repair  and  lighting  the  streets, 
and  for  sanitary  purposes.  Those  are  to  be  collected  in 
the  usual  manner. 

The  circulation  of  Confederate  bonds,  evidences  of  debt, 
except  notes  in  the  similitude  of  bank  notes  issued  by 
the  Confederate  States,  or  scrip,  or  any  trade  in  the  same, 
is  s-trictly  forbidden.  It  having  been  represented  to  the 
Commanding  General  by  the  city  authorities  that  these 
Confederate  notes,  in  the  form  of  bank  notes,  are,  in  a 
great  measure,  the  only  substitute  for  money  which  the 
people  have  been  allowed  to  have,  and  that  great  distress 
would  ensue  among  the  poorer  classes  if  the  circulation 
of  such  notes  were  suppressed,  such  circulation  will  be 
permitted  so  long  as  any  one  may  be  inconsiderate  enough 
to  receive  them,  till  further  orders. 

No  publication,  either  by  newspaper,  pamphlet  or 
handbill,  giving  accounts  of  the  movements  of  soldiers 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  EEC.  121 

of  the  United  States  within  this  Department,  reflecting 
in  any. way  upon  the  United  States  or  its  officers,  or 
tending  in  any  way  to  influence  the  public  mind  against 
the  Government  of  the  United  States,  will  be  permitted 
and  all  articles  of  war  news,  or  editorial  comments,  or 
correspondence,  making  comments  upon  the  movements 
of  the  armies  of  the  United  States,  or  the  rebels,  must  be 
submitted  to  the  examination  of  an  officer  who  will  be 
detailed  for  that  purpose  from  these  Headquarters. 

The  transmission  of  all  communications  by  telegraph 
will  be  under  the  charge  of  an  officer  from  these  Head 
quarters. 

The  armies  of  the  United  States  came  here  not  to 
destroy  but  to  make  good,  to  restore  order  out  of  chaos, 
and  the  government  of  laws  in  place  of  the  passions  of 
med;  to  this  end,  therefore,  the  efforts  of  all  well-dis 
posed  persons  are  invited  to  have  every  species  of  disorder 
quelled,  and  if  any  soldier  of  the  United  States  should  so 
far  forget  his  duty  or  his  flag  as  to  commit  any  outrage 
upon  any  person  or  property,  the  Commanding  General 
requests  that  his  name  be  instantly  reported  to  the  Pro 
vost  Guard,  so  that  he  may  be  punished  and  his  wrongful 
act  redressed. 

The  municipal  authority,  so  far  as  the  police  of  the  city 
and  crimes  are  concerned,  to  "the  extent  before  indicated, 
is  hereby  suspended. 

All  assemblages  of  persons  in  the  streets,  either  by  day 
or  night,  tend  to  disorder,  and  are  forbidden. 

The  various  companies  composing  the  Fire  Department 


122  THE  REBELLION: 

in  New  Orleans,  will  be  permitted  to  retain  their  organi 
zation,  and  are  to  report  to  the  office  of  the  Provost 
Marshal,  so  that  they  may  be  known  and  not  interfered 
with  in  their  duties. 

And,  finally,  it  may  be  sufficient  to  add,  without  further 
enumeration,  that  all  the  requirements  of  martial  law 
will  be  imposed  so  long  as,  in  the  judgment  of  the  United 
States  authorities,  it  may  be  necessary.  And  while  it  is 
the  desire  of  these  authorities  to  exercise  this  government 
mildly,  and  after  the  usages  of  the  past,  it  must  not  be 
supposed  that  it  will  not  be  vigorously  and  firmly  admin 
istered  as  occasion  calls. 

By  command  of  MAJOR  GENERAL  BUTLER. 

GEO.  C.  STRONG,  A.  A.  G.,  Chief  of  Staff. 


Soon  after  the  restoration  of  the  authority  of  the  United 
States  over  New  Orleans,  to  wit:  on  the  18th  May,  1862, 
the  following  publication,  from  the  pen  of  Mr.  Barker, 
appeared  in  the  True  Delta,  with  the  approbation  of 
General  Butler.  It  bears  its  own  comment : 

INTERESTING     COMMUNICATION. 

To  the  Editors  of  the  N.  0.  Daily  True  Delta: 

Gentlemen — At  the  particular  request  of  several  of  my 
fellow-citizens  who  are  interested  in  the  question  of 
cotton,  I  have  to  request  that  you  publish  the  article 
''Don't  give  up  the  Ship,"  which  appeared  in  the  Pic 
ayune  of  the  23d  December,  1860,  together  with  my 
opinion  on  the  question  of  destroying  the  cotton. 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  1  2o 

I  had  supposed  that  King  Cotton  had  been  dethroned 
of  its  vaunted  influence  with  foreign  nations,  on  the 
blockade  question,  it  having,  according  to  the  report 
of  the  Hon.  Mr.  t  Yancey,  on  his  return  from  Europe, 
proved  valueless.  It,  therefore,  becomes  a  question  of 
property. 

A  great  objection  to  presenting  the  cotton  question  in 
an  imposing  light  is  the  motive  it  induces  for  extraordi 
nary  exertions  to  procure  the  article  from  other  quarters, 
thus  permanently  injuring  those  who  cultivate  here. 

It  is  believed  that  the  soil  and  climate  of  Australia  are 
lavorable  to  its  culture,  so  important  to  Great  Britain 
that  she  went  to  war  with  China  to  populate  Australia 
with  millions  of  her  people  to  cultivate  cotton ;  and  after 
expending  countless  millions,  and  sacrificing  lives  without 
number,  terminated  a  very  expensive  war  without  a 
single  word  being  said  in  the  treaty  of  peace  favorable  to 
her  interest,  except  that  the  emigration  of  the  Coolies 
should  not  be  restricted. 

Those  who  advocate  the  destruction  of  cotton  say  : 
''Better  destroy  it  than  allow  the  enemy  to  have  it.'' 
However  true  this  might  be  if  they  intended  to  confiscate 
it — which  is  not  the  case — the  assumption  cannot  be  sus 
tained,  inasmuch  as  they,  from  the  first,  respected  all 
they  found  on  land ;  and  Major  General  Butler  assured 
the  bank  presidents,  with  whom  he  had  a  meeting  last 
Monday,  -that  cotton  had  not  been  taken  at  any  place 
without  payment  therefor,  and  that  he  should  not  only 
respect  cotton  and  sugar  in  the  hands  of  the  planter  and 


124  THE  REBELLION: 

his  factor,  but,  whenever  required,   would  send  a  guard 
to  protect  it  against  the  mob: 

Cotton  is  not  like  corn,  an  article  of  necessity  to  Eng 
land  or  any  other  Power.  Wool,  flax,  hemp  and  furs, 
although  far  more  expensive,  are  all-sufficient  for  every 
other  purpose  than  the  employment  of  millions  of  their 
subjects  ;  and  to  employ  them  in  digging  canals  and  then 
filling  them  up,  would  not  cost  half  as  much  money  as  a 
war  with  the  United  States. 

Another  important  consideration  may  be  found  in  the 
fact  that  if  cotton  should  be  admitted  by  crowned  heads 
to  be  an  omnipotent  power,  it  might,  on  another  occasion, 
be  effectually  arrayed  against  crowned  heads,  all  of  whom 
seem  willing  to  see  the  present  war  continued,  that  the 
growing  power  they  have  so  long  dreaded  may  be  broken 
to  pieces,  or  so  much  exhausted  as  to  be  harmless. 

If  the  cotton  question  could  influence  them,  burning 
the  last  crop  and  refusing  to  raise  another  would  be  con 
sidered  a  hostile  act  leveled  at  them,  and  he  who  expects 
to  coerce  Great  Britain  into  a  friendly  intervention  by 
open  hostile  proceedings,  knows  little  of  the  character  of 
that  proud  nation. 

Such  of  our  banks  as  have  parted  with  their  gold  and 
silver  have  to  depend  on  their  portfolios  to  meet  their 
bank  notes,  pay  their  depositors  and  dividends.  If  the 
planters  destroy  their  crops  they  cannot  pay  their  debts, 
and  will  finally  be  relieved  by  a  bankrupt  law.  Thus, 
destroying  their  crops  becomes  a  war  against  the  banks, 
the  bill  holders,  the  depositors,  the  stockholders  and  the 


ITS   CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  125 

factors,  and  all  this  for  the  single  purpose  of  throwing  the 
operatives  in  the  factories  of  the  world  out  of  employ— 
a  result  too  remote  to  have  any  beneficial  effect  on  the 
operations  of  the  war. 

I  would  ask  how  the  planters  who  destroy  their  crops 
are  to  procure  food  and  clothing  for  their  slaves,  and  how 
the  retired  men,  the  widows  and  the  minors,  whose  all  is 
invested  in  bank  stock,  thus  cut  off  from  dividends,  are 
to  be  supported  ?  And,  finally,  I  would  ask,  how  are 
we  to  get  a  sound  currency  if  the  banks  are  to  be  thus 
ruined  ? 

The  Common  Council  are  endeavoring  to  afford  relief 
against  the  shinplaster  currency;  which  relief  must  of 
necessity  be  temporary,  as  for  all  their  issues  they  get 
only  Confederate  securities,  leading  to  heavy  taxation  to 
pay  the.  notes  they  issue;  independent  of  which  the 
property  holders  are  already  taxed^as  much  as  they  can 
bear.  Thus,  burning  our  crops  may  be  likened  unto  the 
act  of  a  man  putting  out  both  his  eyes,  in  the  vain  hope 
of  injuring  only  one  of  his  enemy's  eyes. 

Circumstanced  as  we  are,  it  has  become  necessary  that 
all  should  return  to  their  accustomed  occupations.  Our 
families  must  be  fed  and  clothed ;  we  cannot  expect  any 
change  in  our  rulers  during  the  war ;  and  if  our  brave 
soldiers,  who  have  fought  as  men  never  before  fought, 
do  not  win  for  us  a  satisfactory  peace,  we  must  fall  back 
on  the  ballot-box,  the  sure  palladium  of  our  liberties, 
when  properly  respected. 

When  President  Lincoln  came  into  power,  he  could  not 


126  THE  REBELLION: 

have  procured  a  dinner  at  the  public  expense  without 
our  consent,  nor  could  any  office  have  been  filled  by  a 
person  not  approved  by  us,  nor  could  they  have  organ 
ized  an  army  or  navy ;  consequently,  could  not  have 
blockaded  our  ports.  We  had,  thanks  to  our  political 
friends  at  the  North — they  having  elected  a  majority  in 
both  Houses — the  game  in  our  own  hands,  which  was 
thrown  away  by  the  resignation  of  our  members  of  Con 


gress. 


Come  what  will,  the  Constitution  should  be  so  amended 
as  to  allow  the  people  to  vote  directly  for  the  President ; 
a  majority  should  be  required  to  entitle  a  candidate  to 
the  office.  This  alteration  made,  all  will  be  safe. 

Your  obedient  servant,  JACOB  BARKER. 

GOVERNOR  ANDREW  AND  THE  WAR  DEPARTMENT. 

A  Washington  Dispatch  of  23d  May,  1862,  was  as 
follows,  which  we  insert  here  as  a  presaging  chapter  in 
the  history  of  subsequent  events  : 

The  Mowing  letter  from  Gov.  Andrew,  of  Massachu 
setts,  has  been  received  at  the  War  Department : 

11  BOSTON,  May  19,  1862. 

"Sir — I  have  this  moment  received  a  telegram  in  these 
words,  viz  : 

"  'The  Secretary  of  War  desires  to  know  how  soon  you 
can  raise  and  organize  three  or  four  more  infantry  regi 
ments,  and  have  them  ready  to  be  forwarded  here  to  be 
armed  and  equipped.  Please  answer  immediately,  and 
state  the  number  you  can  raise. 

"  'L.  THOMAS,  Adjutant  General.' 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  127 

"A  call  so  sudden  and  unexpected  finds  me  without 
materials  for  an  intelligent  reply.  Our  young  men  are 
all  pre-occupied  with  other  views.  Still,  if  a  real  call  for 
three  regiments  are  made,  I  believe  we  can  raise  them  in 
forty  days.  The  arms  and  equipments  would  need  to  be 
furnished  here.  Our  people  have  never  marched  without 
them.  They  go  into  camp  while  forming  into  regiments, 
and  are  drilled  and  practised  with  arms  and  muskets  as 
soldiers.  To  attempt  the  other  course  would  dampen 
enthusiasm,  and  make  the  men  feel  that  they  were  not 
soldiers,  but  a  mob. 

"Again,  if  our  people  feel  that  they  are  going  into  the 
South  to  help  fight  rebels  who  will  kill  and  destroy  them 
by  all  means  known  to  savages  as  well  as  civilized  men ; 
will  deceive  them  by  fraudulent  flags  of  truce  and  lying 
pretences,  as  they  did  the  Massachusetts  boys  at  Williams- 
burg  ;  will  use  their  negro  slaves  against  them,  both  as 
laborers  and  fighting  men,  while  they  themselves  must 
never  fire  at  the  enemy's  magazine,  I  think  they  will  feel 
the  draft  is  heavy  on  their  patriotism.  But  if  the  Presi 
dent  will  sustain  General  Hunter  and  recognize  all  men. 
even,  black  men,  as  legally  capable  of  that  loyalty  the 
blacks  are  waiting  to  manifest,  and  let  them  fight  with 
God  and  human  nature  on  their  side,  the  roads  will 
swarm,  if  need  be,  with  multitudes  whom  New  England 
would  pour  out  to  obey  your  call. 

Always  ready  to  do  my  utmost,  I  remain,  most  faith 
fully,  your  obedient  servant. 

JOHN  A.  ANDREW." 


128 


THE  REBELLION: 


THE    SEQUESTRATION    ACT — INSTRUCTIONS    OF    THE   ATTORNEY 

GENERAL. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  JUSTICE,          ) 
RICHMOND,  12th  September,  1861.  ) 

Instructions  to  Receivers  under  the  Act  entitled  uAn  Act  for 
the  Sequestration  of  the  Estates,  Property  and  Effects  of 
Alien  Enemies,  and  for  the  Indemnity  of  Citizens  of  the 
Confederate  States,  and  persons  aiding  the  same  in  the 
existing  war  against  the  United  States"  approvnd  30^A 
March,  1861. 

I.  The  following  persons  are  subject  to  the  operation 
of  the  law  as  alien  enemies  : 

1st.  All  citizens  of  the  United  States,  except  citizens 
or  residents  of  Delaware,  Maryland,  Kentucky,  or  Mis 
souri,  or  the  District  of  Columbia,  or  the  Territories  of 
New  Mexico,  Arizona,  or  the  Indian  territory  south  of 
Kansas. 

2d.  All  persons  who  have  a  domicil  within  the  States 
with  which  this  Government  is  at  war,  no  matter  whether 
they  be  citizins  or  not :  Thus,  the  subjects  of  Great 
Britain,  France,  or  other  neutral  nations,  who  have  a 
domicil  or  are  carrying  on  business  or  traffic  within  the 
States  at  war  with  this  Confederacy,  are  alien  enemies 
under  the  law. 

3d.  All  such  citizens  or  residents  of  the  States  of  Dela 
ware,  Maryland,  Kentucky  or  Missouri,  and  of  the  Terri 
tories  of  New  Mexico,  Arizona,  and  the  Indian  Territory 
south  of  Kansas,  and  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  as  shall 
commit  actual  hostilities  against  the  Confederate  States, 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  129 

or   aid   or    abet  the   United  States  in  the  existing  war 
against  the  Confederate  States. 

II.  Immediately  after  taking  your  oath  of  office,  you 
will  take  possession  of  all  the  property,  of  every  nature 
and  kind  whatsoever,  within  your  district,  belonging  to 
alien  enemies  as  above  denned. 

III.  You  will  forthwith  apply  to  the  Clerk  of  the  Court 
for  Writs  of  Garnishment,  under  the  8th  section  of  the 
law,  and  will  propound  to  the  Grarnishees  the  interroga 
tories  of  which  a  form  is  annexed.     These  interrogatories 
you  will  propound  to  the  following  persons,  viz  : 

1st.  All  attorneys,  and  counsellors  practising  law  within 
your  district. 

2d.  The  presidents  and  cashiers  of  all  banks,  and  prin 
ciple  administrative  officers  of  all  railroad  and  other 
corporations  within  your  district. 

3d.  All  agents  of  foreign  corporations,  insurance  agents, 
commission  merchants  engaged  in  foreign  trade,  agents 
of  foreign  mercantile  houses,  dealers  in  bills  of  exchange, 
executors  and  administrators  of  estates,  assignees  and 
syndics  of  insolvent  estates,  trustees,  and  generally  all 
persons  who  are  known  to  do  business  as  agents  for 
others. 

IY.  In  the  first  week  of  each  month,  you  will  exhibit 
to  the  judge  a  statement  showing  the  whole  amount  of 
money  in  your  hands  as  Receiver,  and  deposit  the  same 
for  safe-keeping  in  such  banks  or  other  depository  as  may 
be  selected  for  that  purpose  by  the  judge — receiving  only 
such  amount  as  may  be  required  for  immediate  expendi 
ture  in  the  discharge  of  your  duties  as  Receiver. 
9 


130  THE  REBELLION: 

Y.  You  are  very  strictly  prohibited  from  making  per 
sonal  use  in  any  manner  whatever,  or  investing  in  any 
kind  of  property,  or  loaning  with  or  without  interest,  or 
exchanging  for  other  funds,  without  leave  of  the  court, 
any  money  or  funds  of  any  kind,  received  by  you  in  your 
official  capacity. 

YI.  You  are  prohibited  from  employing,  except  at 
your  own  personal  expense,  any  attorney  or  counsellor  to 
aid  you  in  the  discharge  of  your  duties,  other  than  the 
District  Attorney  of  the  Confederate  States  for  your  dis 
trict  ;  and  you  are  instructed  to  invoke  his  aid,  under  the 
9th  section  of  the  law,  in  all  matters  of  litigation  that 
may  arise  under  the  law. 

VII.  You  will  take  special  care  to  avoid  the  loss  or 
deterioration  of  all  personal  property  perishable  in  its 
nature,  by  applying  for  the  sale  thereof  under  the  pro 
visions  of  the  12th  section  of  the  law. 

VIII.  You  will  keep  an  account  showing  exactly  all 
sums  received  by  you   as  allowances  of  compensation 
under  the   fifteenth  section  of  the  law,  setting  forth  the 
date  and  amount  of  each  receipt  of  such  sums ;  and  as 
soon  as  the  amount  received  by  you  in  any  one  year  shall 
reach  the  sum  of  five  thousand  dollars,  you  will  pay  over 
to  the  Assistant  Treasurer  of  the  Confederate  States  most 
convenient  to  your  domicil  all  further  sums  allowed  you 
as  compensation,  taking  duplicate  receipts  therefor,  one 
to  be  retained  as  a  voucher  by  yourself,  and  the  other  to 
be  forwarded  by  mail  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

IX.  Whenever,  in  the  discharge  of  your  duties,  you 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  131 

discover  that  any  attorney,  agent,  former  partner,  trustee, 
or  other  person  holding  or  controlling  any  property, 
rights  or  credits  of  an  alien  enemy,  has  willfully  failed  to 
give  you  information  of  the  same,  you  will  immediately 
report  the  fact  to  the  District  Attorney  for  your  district, 
to  the  end  that  the  guilty  party  may  be  subjected  to  the 
pains  and  penalties  prescribed  by  the  third  section  of  the 
law.  J.  P.  BENJAMIN,  Attorney  General. 


THE    "  NATIONAL    ADVOCATE." 

Mr.  Barker  had  free  communication  with  General 
Butler.  The  General  professed  to  be  in  favor  of  sustain 
ing  Southern  institutions — for  which  purpose  Mr.  Barker, 
believing  that  a  lasting  peace  could  not  be  otherwise  ob 
tained,  established,  on  the  llth  day  of  June,  1862,  the 
NATIONAL  ADVOCATE,  with  the  emblem  of  the  Stars  and 
Stripes,  and  the  following  announcement : 

"This  paper  will  advocate  the  political  doctrines  of 
Jefferson  and  Jackson,  relying  implicitly  on  the  ballot- 
box  to  correct  all  the  evils  to  which  we  are  now  and  have 
been  subject,  terminate  the  present  war,  and  restore  the 
ascendency  of  the  Democratic  party,  when  there  will  not 
be  any  further  interference  with  the  institutions  of  the 
South.  It  should  be  considered  treason  to  debate  in 
Congress  the  subject  of  slavery.  The  States  should  be 
left  to  regulate  that  question  in  their  own  way.  All  that 
the  South  wishes  is  to  have  the  terms  of  the  Constitution 
fairly  and  promptly  carried  out. 


132  THE  REBELLION: 

"Our  motto  being,  'Enemies  in  War — in  Peace 
Friends/  we  shall  exert  ourselves  to  the  utmost  to  calm 
the  angry  'passions  of  men  who  have  been  opposed  to 
each  other.  Most  of  those  who  have  erred  knew  not 
what  they  had  been  doing.  Let  the  past  be  forgotten, 
and  all  go  forward  with  their  accustomed  occupations, 
and  sin  no  more.  Kindness  and  forgiveness  are  the  best 
means  of  cultivating  a  Union  sentiment,  which  is  now 
most  wanted  to  promote  the  prosperity  of  New  Orleans. 
This  feeling,  however,  must  be  mutual,  or  it  cannot  have 
any  beneficial  effect. 

"The  proclamations  of  Fremont,  Phelps  and  Hunter 
have  done  much  to  weaken  the  cause  of  the  United 
States.  The  President's  proclamation  annulling  those  of 
the  three  Generals  is  doing  much  good.  What  is  most 
wanted  is  the  exclusion  of  politics  from  the  pulpit.  The 
reverend  gentlemen  occupying  the  different  pulpits  should 
confme*their  labors  to  spiritual  matters,  allowing  all  men 
to  go  to  heaven  in  their  own  way.  This  terrible  war  was 
brought  about  by  those  wearing  clerical  robes  at  the 
North,  and  if  those  of  similar  calling  at  the  South  had  not 
been  provoked  into  a  course  equally  adverse  to  common 
sense  and  public  good  there  would  not  be  that  misery 
which  pervades  the  whole  community,  North  and  South. " 

[From  the  Advocate,  Jane  15,  1862.] 

Our  creed  is  universal  education  and  universal  suffrage. 
The  people  are  entitled  to  the  services  of  their  best  citi 
zens,  without  regard  to  their  place  of  birth ;  it  should  not 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  133 

be  a  subject  of  inquiry.  That  is  an  affair  in  which  they 
took  no  part ;  their  own  actions,  capacities  and  virtues 
should  be  the  only  test  of  their  fitness  for  public  employ 
ment,  while  the  road  to  fame  as  well  as  to  fortune  should 
alike  be  open  to  the  adopted  as  well  as  to  the  native 
citizen.  They  were  invited  here  by  our  laws,  and  their 
rights  secured  by  those  laws  should  be  carefully  watched 
over  and  protected.  We  should  recommend  them  to  be 
tenacious  to  use  their  rights  fully  and  promptly  in  select 
ing  the  best  men,  to  avoid  as  much  as  possible  taking 
office  themselves. 

They  may  refy  on  it  that  but  few  men  leave  office  as 
well  off  as  when  they  entered  it,  and  they  uniformly 
accustom  themselves  to  a  course  of  life  which  disqualifies 
them  from  returning  to  the  occupation  they  left  when 
they  took  office. 

A  farther  objection  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  office 
holders  are  always  slaves.  Although  their  skins  be  not 
black,  their  time  is  not  their  own,  and  they-  become 
targets  for  the  pen  and  the  tongue  of  the  slanderer  whom 
they  cannot  serve,  or  who  has  been  disappointed. 


[From  the  Advocate,  June  18,  1862.] 

Mr.  Jacob  Barker,  in  his  connection  with  this  paper, 
seems  to  attract  the  attention  of  our  neighbor  of  the 
Delta.  In  our  first  number  we  stated  that  he  had  not 

any  new  opinions  to  bring  out.     The  height  of  his  am- 

•f 

bition  is  to  obtain  from  the  public  a  consideration  of  what 


134  THE  REBELLION: 

he  has  heretofore  promulgated.  We  shall,  therefore, 
from  time  to  time,  republish  articles  which  came  from 
his  pen. 

He  is  particularly  anxious  to  impress  on  the  public 
mind  opinions  which  he  believes  to  be  in  accordance  with 
the  best  interests  of  the  public.  He  insists  that  they  are 
capable  of  governing  themselves,  if  properly  educated. 

He  had  the  pleasure  of  the  acquaintance  of  Jefferson, 
Madison,  Jackson,  Armstrong,  Hamilton,  Clinton,  Clay, 
Webster,  John  Quincy  Adams,  Yan  Buren,  Lowndey, 
Calhoun,  Cass,  Emmett,  and  other  distinguished  citizens, 
whose  many  brilliant  talents  and  exemplary  virtues  for  a 
long  time  guided  the  destinies  of  this  Republic. 

Mr.  Barker  would  be  glad  to  see  luminaries  of  similar 
brilliancy  bursting  on  the  world  in  these  dark  days.  They, 
however,  are  no  more,  and  it  is  very  much  to  be  feared 
we  shall  not  see  their  like  again. 


TEST  FOR  OFFICE — Honesty,  Sobriety  and  Capacity  to 
Discharge  the  Duties  thereof. — We  have  the  utmost  confi 
dence  in  Gen.  Butler,  Gen.  Shepley,  and  the  Collector  of 
the  Port,  and  confidently  expect  them  to  be  guided  by 
this  standard.  In  doing  this,  they  have  of  necessity  to 
obtain  information  from  others.  Therefore,  we  say  to  all, 
beware  how  you  sign  petitions  or  recommend  or  solicit 
office  for  any  man  not  thoroughly  qualified  to  discharge 
promptly  all  the  duties  of  the  office  he  seeks  to  fill. 

Our  greatest  fears  are  that  the  powers  at  Washington 
will  allow  themselves  to  be   deceived  by  fawning  hypo- 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  EEC.  135 

crites  or  treacherous  friends,  in  their  selections  for  this 
State  and  city. 

We  stated  in  a  past  number  that  Gen.  Harrison  and 
Gen.  Taylor  were  not  qualified  for  the  duties  of  President 
of  the  United  States.  The  national  feeling  was  so  decided 
in  favor  of  those  who  had  obtained  military  glory  that 
availability  was  the  only  question  considered  by  the 
Federal  party.  It  triumphed  over  all  other  considera 
tions,  inducing  their  leaders  to  overlook  the  superior 
qualities  of  Messrs.  Clay  and  Webster. 

The  same  consideration  induced  them  to  subscribe  to 
the  nomination  of  Gen.  Taylor,  which  had  been  made  by 
the  independent  Democrats  Nine  men  out  of  every  ten 
who  voted  at  the  Philadelphia  Convention  for  the  nomi 
nation  of  Gen.  Taylor,  preferred  Mr.  Clay,  yet  they  had 
not  sufficient  independence  to  stand  up  to  the  chalk  and 
meet  the  question  like  men. 

Disappointment  and  mortification  hurried  these  great 
men  to  their  graves. 

[From  the  Advocate,  June  21,  1862  ] 

PURCHASING  GOLD  TOO  DEAR. — How  shall  we  improve 
our  present  condition  ?  is  the  great  question  to  be  con 
sidered.  To  do  this,  it  becomes  necessary  to  ascertain 
what  it  is,  and  to  compare  it  to  what  it  was  before  this 
unfortunate  war  took  place.  Comparison  is  the  only 
power  conferred  on  man  by  which  to  decide  on  all  earthly 
things  material  to  health,  prosperity  and  the  condition  of 
society.  Small  things  are  a  safe  standard  by  which  to 
guide  his  judgment  in  relation  to  those  of  magnitude. 


136  THE  REBELLION: 

With  this  view  we  should  take  a  retrospective  glance 
of  the  past,  and  each  individual  should  consider  what  he 
was  suffering  under  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
as  it  was  administered  before  the  war,  how  many  slaves 
he  lost,  and  how  much  tax  he  had  to  pay  to  support  the 
Government,  remembering  that  we  must  have  a  Govern 
ment  of  some  sort,  and  that  no  government  can  be  sus 
tained  but  by  a  tax  of  some  description ;  and,  further, 
what  rules  and  regulations  to  which  he  had  to  submit 
were  oppressive  and  uncomfortable.  These  things  ascer 
tained  and  compared  with  his  present  condition,  will 
enable  him  to  decide  whether  or  not  the  medicine  admin 
istered  to  correct  those  evils  has  not  been  far  greater  than 
was  necessary  to  cure  or  correct  them. 

The  same  course  of  thinking  will  be  equally  applicable 
to  all  matters  of  State,  however  momentous.  Look  at 
the  banks,  their  present  condition,  their  business  and 
future  prospects,  and  compare  them  to  what  they  were 
before  this  war  took  place. 

Look  at  the  situation  of  the  planter,  and  compare  it  to 
what  is  was  before  this  war  took  place. 

Look  at  that  of  the  shipowner,  and  compare  it  to  what 
it  was  before  the  inception  of  this  war. 

Look  at  the  factors,  and  compare  their  present  business 
and  prospects  to  what  they  were  before  the  commence 
ment  of  this  war. 

Look  at  the  condition  and  prospects  of  the  owners  and 
employes  of  steamboats,  and  compare  them  to  what  they 
were  before  this  war  took  place. 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  137 

Look  at  the  present  business  of  the  mason,  carpenter, 
painter  and  laborer,  and  see  the  difference  in  their  busi 
ness  and  future  prospects,  and  see  what  it  was  before  this 
war  took  place. 

Look  at  the  business  of  the  stevedore  and  drayman,  and 
compare  it  to  what  it  was  before  this  war  took  place. 

Look  at  the  present  business  of  those  who  dealt  in  or 
employed  slaves,  and  compare  it  with  what  it  was  before 
this  war  took  place. 

Look  at  the  business  of  those  who  relied  on  the  pro 
fession  of  the  law  to  support  their  families,  and  compare 
it  to  what  it  was  before  the  war  took  place. 

Look  at  the  estimation  in  which  the  United  States  was 
held  by  foreign  nations  before  this  war  took  place,  and 
compare  it  with  what  it  now  is,  or  what  it  will  be,  in  case 
two  Confederacies  should  be  established. 

Let  these  comparisons  be  made,  and  we  risk  nothing 
in  stating  that  all  parties  will  unite  in  the  opinion  that 
the  attempt  now  making  to  change  our  form  of  Govern 
ment  is  purchasing  gold  too  dear. 

This,  however,  we  admit,  is  not  a  very  appropriate  use 
of  the  term  gold,  there  not  being  any  such  commodity 
embraced  in  the  boon  contended  for. 

Consider  the  gay  attire,  the  beautiful  wreaths,  ribbons, 
flowers  and  feathers,  which  adorned  the  numerous  fine 
ladies  who  promenaded  our  streets,  and  who  are  now,  or 
who  will  soon  be  shrouded  in  the  habiliments  of  woe,  and 
tell  us  if  this  is  not  purchasing  gold  too  dear. 

Consider  the  numbers  who  have  or  will  return  from 


138  THE  REBELLION: 

the  battle-field  despoiled  of  an  eye,  an  arm,  a  leg,  or 
otherwise  maimed  or  disfigured,  and  tell  us  if  this  is  not 
puachasing  gold  too  dear. 

Look  at  the  storehouses  going  to  decay  and  dwellings 
destitute  of  tenants,  taxes,  insurance  and  interest  going 
on,  and  tell  us  if  this  is  not  purchasing  gold  too  dear. 

Consider  the  increase  of  taxes  which  of  necessity  must 
result  from  the  lavish  expenditure  of  money  incident  to  a 
state  of  war,  and  tell  us  if  this  is  not  purchasing  gold  too 
dear. 

Imagine  how  half  a  million  of  penniless  soldiers,  when 
disbanded,  without  pay  and  without  occupation,  are  to  be 
supported  or  provided  for,  and  compare  this  with  their 
former  industrial  pursuits  in  private  life,  and  say  whether 
or  not  it  is  not  purchasing  gold  too  dear. 

The  greatest  of  all  the  evils  of  this  war  is  the  desire  for 
military  occupation  it  has  inspired  in  the  rising  genera 
tion. 


[From  the  Advocate.  June  23,  1862.] 

LET  THERE  BE  PEACE. — There  not  being  any  good 
reason  for  continuing  this  unfortunate  war,  we  say  let 
there  be  peace.  Once  concluded,  we  shall  be  slow  to 
embark  again  in  a  strife  likely  to  prove  so  disastrous ;  an 
unprofitable  contest  of  trying  which  can  do  the  other  the 
most  harm. 

The  difficult  question  seems  to  be  how  this  desirable 
end  is  to  be  brought  about.  Our  very  popular  Military 
Commandant,, Gen.  Gr.  F.  Shepley,  has  opened  the  way, 


ITS   CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  139 

by  his  admirable  General  Order  No.  13,  inviting  all  those 
absent  from  their  families  in  the  military  service  of  the 
Confederate  States,  to  return  home,  guaranteeing  to  them 
safe  conduct  and  protection  after  their  arrival. 

They  made  a  vigorous  effort  to  establish  a  separate 
Confederacy,  expending  the  wealth  and  best  blood  of  the 
Nation,  in  the  hope  of  accomplishing  what  they  have  been 
taught  to  believe  would  be  considered  a  great  work  in  the 
cause  of  self-government.  They  have  failed,  and  have 
not  the  adequate  resources  for  continuing  the  strife  with 
any  prospect  of  suecess  ;  therefore,  let  them  return  to 
their  homes,  and  to  their  accustomed  occupations,  as 
gracefully  as  possible,  forgetting  the  past,  devoting  their 
time  and  talents  to  the  support  of  their  families,  and  the 
resuscitation  of  the  commerce  of  the  city  and  their  own 
fortunes. 


THE  BALLOT-BOX. — This  palladium  of  our  liberties  must 
and  shall  be  protected  and  sustained  from  the  abuses, 
violations  and  frauds  to  which,  for  many  years,  it  has 
been  subject. 

So  great  has  been  this  abuse  that  it  has  induced  many 
good  citizens  to  despair  of  this  Republic,  and  be  willing 
to  return  again  to  a  monarchy,  the  worst  of  all  remedies. 
Military  rule  is  a  good  substitute  for  a  monarchy.  This, 
of  necessity,  must  be  temporary,  and  before  it  is  with 
drawn  we  hope  the  ballot-boxes  will  be  open  to  our 
fellow-citizens,  and  that  they  will  profit  by  so  good  an 
opportunity  to  place  competent  men  in  authority  to  r  J- 


140  THE  REBELLION: 

over  the  city  affairs,  which  have  been  sadly  mismanaged 
for  many  years. 

This  reformation  cannot  take  place  if  the  property- 
holders,  bankers  and  merchants  will  not  take  part  in 
forming  good  tickets  and  supporting  the  candidates  thus 
selected. 

If  those  most  deeply  interested  will  not  take  the  troube 
and  make  the  necessary  contributions  to  select  and  elect 
good  rulers,  they  should  submit  without  a  murmur  to  the 
impositions  which  are  sure  to  follow  their  lukewarmness 
and  neglect. 

In  the  place  of  contenting  themselves  with  finding  fault 
with  and  cursing  others,  they  should  remember  that  such 
a  course  irritates  and  drives  the  voters  into  the  ranks  of 
their  opponents.  The  adopted  citizens  having  been  in 
vited  here  by  our  laws,  they  should  be  allowed  freely  to 
enjoy  the  privileges  guaranteed  by  those  laws. 

Reviling  naturalization  laws,  universal  suffrage,  and 
the  adopted  citizens,  is  the  most  impolitic  course  which 
can  be  pursued.  Rules  and  laws  regulating  universal 
suffrage,  universal  education  and  naturalization,  cannot 
be  disturbed.  Respect  all  rights  acquired  under  them, 
treat  the  recipients  with  becoming  respect  and  kindness, 
and  we  shall  assuredly  benefit  by  their  votes.  Kindness 
and  respect  are  sure  to  win  a  return  of  those  heavenly 
qualities. 


GENERAL     PHELPS. 

The  friends  of  the  Union,  residing   in  Louisiana,  are 


ITS   CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  141 

not  satisfied  with  President  Lincoln's  continuing  Gen 
eral  Phelps  in  command.  They  consider  him  an  enemy 
to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  therefore 
it  is  impossible  for  him  to  harmonize  with  our  citizens, 
who  are  determined  to  maintain  their  rights  as  defined 
in  that  sacred  charter ;  while  Major  General  Butler  and 
General  Shepley  are  taking  great  pains  to  protect  us 
in  our  rights,  as  an  evidence  of  which  we  have  General 
Butler's  order  that  none  save  those  employed  should 
be  received  or  be  allowed  to  remain  within  the  lines 
of  the  army,  and  General  Shepley's  order  warning  the 
marines  of  the  consequences  which  would  attend  their 
aiding  the  escape  of  slaves. 

These  wholesome  regulations  are  counteracted  by  the 
adverse  course  of  General  Phelps,  which  the  President 
should  not  tolerate,  if  he  wishes  to  have  the  confidence 
of  the  people  of  Louisiana. 


[From  the  Advocate,  June  30,  1862.] 

Our  neighbors  of  the  Delta  said  that  this  was  to  be  a 
pro-slavery  paper,  and  could  not  succeed.  Strictly  true 
as  this  is  as  to  the  design  of  this  paper,  the  question  of  its 
success  remains  to  be  tested.  One  thing  is  certain,  that 
no  other  than  a  pro-slavery  paper  can  succeed  in  any  part 
of  Louisiana.  Opposition  to  the  institutions  of  the  South 
have  brought  on  us  and  on  all  Europe  the  present  disas 
trous  state  of  things,  which  can  only  be  relieved  by  a 
return  to  our  former  pursuits,  which  we  must  be  allowed 
to  do  quietly  and  peaceably. 


142  THE  REBELLION: 

It  seems  to  us  to  be  impossible  that  the  whole  world 
should  acquiesce  in  the  course  pursued  by  the  fanatics  of 
the  North,  who  know  not  what  they  have  been  doing, 
nor  the  consequences  of  what  they  wish  to  do.  Their 
course  is  a  war  on  the  peace,  happiness  and  contentment 
of  the  colored  race.  Honest  zeal  misleads  most  of  them. 
They  vainly  imagine  that  they  are  serving  God.  Short 
sighted  mortals  !  They  overlook  the  great  fact  that  God 
is  omnipotent,  omnipresent,  and  competent  to  do  His  own 
work  without  their  aid.  He  has  not  any  attorneys,  nor 
does  He  require  any.  Our  flag  is  nailed  to  the  mast  on 
this  subject. 

The  sooner  the  better  the  editors  of  the  Delta  come  to 
the  conclusion  that  in  order  to  promote  and  cement  a 
Union  feeling  in  this  community,  confidence  must  be  in 
spired  in  the  stability  of  their  property  and  their  occupa 
tions,  which  can  only  be  done  by  frankness,  kindness  and 
the  fulfilment  of  all  friendly  professions. 

There  are  far  too  many,  we  admit,  who  require  rigor 
ous  treatment,  while  the  great  bulk  of  the  people  would 
be  won  over  by  gentle  measures,  and  it  would  be  much 
better  to  let  the  others  escape  without  feeling  the  penal 
ties  their  transgressions  richly  merit,  than  that  the  whole 
community  should  be  agitated  and  kept  hungry  and  in  a 
state  of  alarm.  We  say,  let  there  be  peace  at  home  and 
abroad. 

The  manifestations  on  the  issuing  of  our  late  extra 
were  unmistakable.  They  emanated  from  a  desire  for 
peace,  believing  that  a  foreign  recognition  would  open 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  143 

the  door  to  negotiation,  and  thus  would  lead  to  a  measure 
much  wished  for  by  all.  Negotiation  once  commenced 
will  assuredly  result  in  peace.  Mistaken  as  this  notion 
may  have  been,  it  was  that  which  pervaded  the  public 
mind.  We  are  all  so  tired  of  the  war  that  we  are  panting 
for  peace,  and  become  excited  at  the  least  glimmering  of 
such  an  event. 

[From  the  Advocate,  August  21,  1862. J; 
OUR    SLAVES. 

Great  complaints  are  made  at  the  demoralizing  effects 
on  the  colored  race  by  the  measures  pursued  by  the 
United  States.  No  one  can  disapprove  of  their  inter 
ference  with  Southern  rights  more  than  we  do.  We  are 
equally  opposed  to  placing  arms  in  the  hands  of  unedu 
cated  men  who  are  not  accustomed  to  use  them.  When 
our  State  authorities  organized  a  regiment  or  company 
of  blacks,  commissioned  its  officers,  and  when  Governor 
Moore,  by  a  general  order,  complimented  them,  we  sup 
posed  the  public  would  sooner  or  later  have  cause  to 
regret,  deeply  regret  having  set  so  mischievous  an  ex 
ample. 

Our  opposition  to  all  interference  with  Southern  insti 
tutions  was  and  is  based  on  four  considerations  : 

1st.  That  any  change  would  be  destructive  of  the  hap 
piness  and  comfort  of  the  colored  race. 

2d.  That  it  is  impossible  to  abolish  slavery  in  the 
Southern  States  without  the  interposition  of  Divine 
Providence. 


144  THE  REBELLION: 

3d.  That  the  rights  secured  by  the  Constitution  cannot 
be  violated  without  putting  the  whole  afloat. 

4th.  That  emancipation  would  depopulate  the  South  of 
its  white  population,  and  prove  ruinous  to  the  commerce 
of  the  world. 


The  Abolition  portion  of  the  Republican  press  are 
scolding  the  President  because  he  does  not  declare  uni 
versal  emancipation,  evidently  believing  that  the  avowal 
of  such  a  measure  would  end  the  war,  by  inducing 
insurrection  among  the  slaves,  etc.  That  is  another  of 
the  phantasies  of  the  one-idea  men.  The  President,  or 
no  other  observing  man,  believes  anything  af  the  kind. 
It  would  complicate  still  further  the  present  difficulties, 
and  produce  no  earthly  good.  It  would  not  liberate  a 
slave — because  we  must  first  conquer  a  State  before  laws 
can  be  practically  given  to  it,  or  emancipation  effected. 
What  the  people  want,  and  what  they  are  giving  their 
blood  and  treasure  to  accomplish,  is  the  preservation  of 
the  old  Union,  under  the  old  Constitution — and  it  can  be 
done  by  white  men,  if  at  all !  The  way  to  do  it,  is  to 
respond  promptly  to  the  call  for  aid,  which  the  President 
makes  on  the  people,  and  let  slavery  take  care  of  itself! 

[From  the  Advocate,  August  22,  1862.] 
FOREIGN    INTERFERENCE. 

Our  opposition  to  foreign  interference,  resting  as  it 
does  on  the  immutable  principles  of  independence,  we 
could  not  suppress  our  feelings  of  indignation  on  reading 


ITS   CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  145 

the  article  from  the  Baltimore  correspondent,  by  the 
British  steamer  Arabia,  about  the  French  force  landing  at 
Mobile — supported  by  a  large  fleet  of  iron-clad  steamers. 
This  thing  is  more  easily  said  than  done.  If  such  a 
mad  scheme  should  enter  the  far-reaching  mind  of  Louis 
Napoleon,  the  little  business  he  has  to  attend  to  at  home 
would  divert  him  therefrom  ;  if  not,  his  neighbor,  John 
Bull,  would  have  to  be  consulted ;  and  if  so  hopeless  an 
enterprise  should  be  undertaken,  the  happy  effect  would 
be  to  cause  all  parties  in  the  United  States  to  put  on  the 
shelf  their  domestic  differences,  to  be  settled  hereafter 
by  themselves,  and  to  unite  in  a  war  against  the  invader, 
whose  soldiers  would  embrace  the  opportunity  which 
would  be  presented  for  them  all  to  become  citizens  of  the 
United  States,  with  a  snug  little  farm  of  one  hundred 
acres,  to  which  they  could  bring  their  families  a^s  soon  as 
peace  took  place. 

[From  the  Advocate,  August  23,  1862.] 

We  gave  some  important  documents  from  the  Delta  of 
yesterday,  without  undertaking  to  criticise  the  ungenerous 
remarks  of  the  learned  editor  in  introducing  them. 

The  attachment  of  the  editor  of  this  paper  to  the  Union 
and  the  Constitution  is  too  well  established  to  be  shaken 
by  anything  that  can  be  said  by  new  comers ;  yet  he  may 
be  allowed  to  repeat  a  remark  or  two  which  he  has  made 
publicly  and  privately  a  thousand  times  : 

1st.    That  the  North  refused  to  carry  out  the  Constitu 
tion  according  to  its  letter  and  spirit. 
10 


146  THE  REBELLION: 

2d.  That  the  South  could  have  choked  them  off  and 
brought  them  to  terms  in  three  months,  for  the  want  of 
supplies,  if  the  members  of  Congress,  had  retained  their 
seats. 

3d.  That  there  would  not  have  been  any  war  but  for 
the  attack  on  Fort  Sumter. 

4th.  That  the  Democratic  party  of  the  North  had  placed 
the  game  in  their  hands,  which  they  threw  away  by  re 
signing  their  seats  in  Congress. 

However,  we  beg  pardon  of  the  reader  for  troubling 
him  so  much  about  thev  editor  of  this  paper  and  his  opin 
ions.  "We  trust  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  trouble  them 
in  future,  however  active  our  neighbor's  devils  may  be 
in  the  use  of  their  black-balls. 

Finally,  the  best  answer  to  give  is  to  refer  to  the  Jack 
Tar's  remarks  to  an  observer  who  expressed  surprise 
when  he  witnessed  Mr.  Barker  attending,  personally,  to 
the  sale  and  delivery  of  a  bale  of  hay  to  a  drayman,  in 
the  plentitude  of  his  business  in  New  York  :  "It  is  not  of 
any  consequence,  his  dimensions  have  been  taken." 


[From  the  Advocate,  September  8,  1862.] 
TWENTY-FIVE   PER   CENT.    TAX   ON    AGRICULTURAL    PRODUCTS. 

The  Confederate  Congress  appears  to  be  about  im 
posing  an  export  duty  of  twenty-five  per  cent,  on  cotton, 
tobacco,  sugar  and  other  products  of  our  soil.  Those 
wise  legislators  should  have  thought  of  this  before  they 
authorized  the  burning  of  cotton  and  discouraged  its 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  147 

further  cultivation.  Had  they  done  this,  allowing  the 
planters  to  obtain  supplies  for  their  slaves  in  exchange 
for  their  sugar  and  cotton,  the  stock  on  hand  to  accumu 
late  in  the  ordinary  course  of  cultivation,  there  would 
have  been  a  tempting  boon  for  foreign  intervention,  for 
which  they  have  been  so  long  panting ;  and  when  ex 
portation  should  be  allowed,  the  twenty-five  per  cent.,  if 
collected,  would  have  gone  far  to  have  paid  the  interest 
on  the  frightful  debt  which  is  augmenting  with  the  speed 
of  the  crazy  engineer  when  on  his  voyage  to  the  moon. 

Such  a  duty  would,  however,  have  been  a  two-edged 
sword,  and  might  not  have  been  easily  collected  in  gold 
and  silver.  The  planters  would  not  have  quietly  sub 
mitted  to  such  an  inroad  on  their  hard  earnings  after  all 
their  sufferings  by  the  war,  however  much  they  may  have 
consoled  themselves  with  the  notion  that  it  would  ulti 
mately  come  out  of  the  consumer  ;  and  this  idea  might 
have  induced  France  and  England  to  consider  it  war  on 
their  manufactories,  and  have  indisposed  them  to  taking 
part  in  our  family  quarrel. 

All  these  things  will  doubtless  be  considered  by  those 
wiseacres,  who  hold  the  destinies  of  their  constituents 
between  their  thumb  and  finger,  before  they  thus  burthen 
the  agricultural  interests  of  the  country,  about  which  we 
have  no  opinion  to  offer,  beyond  that  which  we  have 
often  proclaimed,  viz  :  all  legitimate  trade  should  be  left 
as  free  as  air. 

There  appears  to  be  another  important  measure  pend 
ing  before  the  said  Congress,  which  is,  to  make  its 


148  THE  REBELLION: 

treasury  notes  a  legal  tender.  This  may  be  well  enough 
as  a  political  necessity,  so  far  as  it  may  apply  to  contracts 
entered  into  or  made  subsequent  to  the  passage  of  such 
a  law ;  while  it  would  be  a  direct  fraud  on  existing  cred 
itors  if  applied  to  them,  particularly  on  those  who  hold 
bank  notes,  or  mortgage  or  other  collateral  securities,  all 
which,  with  a  single  dash  of  the  pen,  would  be  reduced 
to  the  value  of  Confederate  Treasury  notes,  and  ultimately 
to  the  value  of  old  Continental  paper. 

If  this  measure  should  be  brought  about  it  will  be  done 
by  bank  influence,  as  furnishing  the  most  convenient 
means  of  paying  off  their  bank  note  issues. 


[From  the  Advocate,  September  10,  1862.] 
MAINTAINING    THE    CONSTITUTION. 

The  President  is  apparently  determined  to  adhere  to  a, 
strictly  constitutional  policy  as  the  only  path  of  safety  for 
the  country.  Mr.  Lincoln  may  lack  the  polish  and  states 
manship  of  some  of  his  predecessors,  and  be  somewhat 
outre  in  manners,  but  of  one  thing  the  people  are  now 
receiving  almost  daily  assurances  from  Washington — he 
can  be  firm.  He  is  not  ignorant  of  the  sentiments  of  the 
great  masses  of  the  people,  and,  assured  of  their  support, 
he  has  the  courage  to  resist  boldly  the  terrible  pressure 
of  the  radicals,  seeing,  as  he  does,  that  their  course  is 
ruinous  and  its  end  anarchy.  He  is  opposed  to  extremists 
on  either  hand,  and  has  on  frequent  occasions  declared 
his  purpose,  while  prosecuting  the  war  vigorously,  to 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  149 

carry  it  on  solely  and  exclusively  for  the  restoration  of 
the  Union  and  the  maintenance  of  the  Government. 


[From  the  Advocate,  September  15,  1862.] 

We  have  uniformly  contended  for  the  Union  and  the 
Constitution ;  and  if  the  terms  of  the  compact  had  been 
promptly,  honestly  and  fairly  carried  out,  the  Nation 
would  have  been  saved  the  great  misfortune  it  is  now 
encountering,  North  and  South,  for  no  good.  We  say 
for  no  good,  as  we  'rarely  meet  an  individual  who  does 
not  complain  of  being  worse  off,  with  worse  prospects  for 
the  future  than  before  the  war,  and  no  one  pretends  that 
his  condition  will,  when  peace  takes  place,  be  improved 
from  what  it  was  before  the  war. 

All  this  on  the  pretence  of  benefiting  the  colored  race. 
We  say  pretence,  because  we  religiously  believe  that  all 
interference  with  their  condition  by  the  white  man  is 
prejudicial  to  their  morals,  their  comfort  and  their  hap 
piness. 

Slaves,  in  the  eye  of  the  law  are,  according  to  the  Con 
stitution,  property,  and  whatever  forfeiture  of  property 
those  embarked  in  the  Confederacy  may  incur,  it  cannot 
apply  to  the  property  of  good  loyal  men ;  and  so  thought 
Major  General  Butler  and  General  Shepley,  and  but  for 
the  last  law  passed  by  Congress  on  the  subject,  they  would 
restore  to  the  rightful  loyal  owners  all  their  slaves  coming 
within  the  lines.  That  law  forbids  such  action;  hence, 
all  they  can  do  is  to  refuse  to  receive,  quarter  or  protect 
those  who  run  away  from  good  loyal  citizens. 


150  THE  REBELLION: 

[From  tbe  Advocate,  September  25,  1862.] 

The  editor  of  the  Delta  says,  or  rather  broadly  insinu 
ates,  that  the  publication  of  the  Advocate  should  not  be 
allowed.  For  once  in  his  life  he  is  honest  in  thus  stating 
what  he  thinks.  No  one  doubts  that  he  thinks  so.  He 
should,  however,  remember  that  there  is  a  tale  connected 
with  its  origin  as  yet  untold. 

•  The  wagoner  of  antiquity,  when  the  wheels  of  his 
vehicle  sunk  deep  into  the  mire,  called  on  Jupiter  for 
aid,  instead  of  putting  his  shoulder  to  the  wheel.  We 
would  impress  upon  the  editor's  memory  that  Major  Gen 
eral  Butler  has  other  fish  to  fry  than  to  waste  his  valuable 
time  in  vain  attempts  to  help  this  Cape  Cod  journalist  out 
of  the  mud  into  which  he  has  inextricably  plunged  his 
editorial  ambulance. 

If  he  should  succeed  in  thus  muzzling  the  press,  it 
would  not  be  a  cause  of  much  regret  to  the  editor  of  this 
paper  on  his  own  account,  however  much  he  might  regret 
the  privation  of  their  morning's  entertainment  which  such 
a  proceeding  would  impose  upon  the  ladies — God  bless 
them  ! 


[From  the  Advocate,  October  3,  1862.] 

We  thank  the  Delta  for  giving  place  to  Mr.  Barker's 
remarks  which  appeared  in  our  paper  of  Tuesday.  If 
by  ascribing  to  him  egotism  the  Delta  supposed  that  he 
daimed  to  have  an  influence  with  the  community,  the 
editor  was  in  error.  Mr.  Barker  does  not  put  forth  any 
such  pretension,  while  he  insists  that  the  truth,  and  facts 


ITS   CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  151 

fairly  stated,  are  entitled  to  and  have  had  a  towering  in 
fluence  ;  and  so  far  as  he  is  concerned,  he  has  endeavored, 
both  now  and  in  past  time,  to  dispel  the  mist  in  which 
designing  men  have  uniformly  exerted  themselves  to  in 
volve  all  political  subjects ;  and  if  the  result  has  been 
favorable  to  his  views,  it  has  arisen  from  the  imposing 
influence  of  the  facts,  and  the  conclusions  therefrom,  and 
not  from  any  personal  influence  of  Mr.  Barker.  * 

As  to  his  considering  ' l  the  institution  of  slavery  of 
more  importance  than  the  Union,"  the  Delta  knows  the 
folly  of  repining  at  an  evil  which  cannot  be  cured. 

If  the  Union  is  lost,  it  has  been  thrown  away  by  the 
violation  of  the  Constitution  on  the  part  of  the  North. 
The  South  should  have  held  fast  and  resisted  all  innova 
tion,  in  place  of  unwisely  yielding  the  rights  which  they 
are  now  endeavoring  to  regain  at  the  cost  of  men  and 
money  without  stint. 

Impossibilities  cannot  be  accomplished.  Consequently 
the  Union  cannot  be  preserved  or  restored  until  the 
North  abandons  its  war  on  the  Constitution. 

He  wrote  to  a  friend  in  Philadelphia  who  had  sent  him 
the  speech  of  Andrew  Johnson,  of  Tennessee,  as  follows  : 

[EXTRACT.] 

"NEW  YORK,  August  17,  1861. 

"I  have  heard  read  the  whole  of  Mr.  Johnson's  speech- 
It  is  a  very  able  expose,  and  however  correct  his  history 
may  be,  and  however  logical  his  legal  and  Constitutional 
deductions  are,  to  enforce  and  carry  them  out  will  cost 
too  many  lives,  too  much  money,  and  be  fraught  with  too 


152  THE  REBELLION: 

disastrous  consequences  for  practical  men  to  approve. 
The  old  saying  is  that  gold  may  be  bought  too  dear- 
Suppose  it  were  possible  to  crush  the  South,  what  would 
dominion  over  so  warlike  a  people,  so  restless  as  they 
would  become,  be  worth  at  the  end  of  a  seven  years'  war? 
The  best  way  is  to  let  them  go,  and  have  a  separate  Con 
federacy.  Bad  as  this  would  be,  sooner  or  later  you  will 
^ome  to  that  conclusion.  Why  not,  then,  do  it  at  once, 
and  save  the  further  effusion  of  human  blood  and  the 
waste  of  countless  millions,  for  posterity  to  pay?" 

For  these  opinions  the  Delta  asserts  that  Mr.  Barker 
considers  "the  institution  of  slavery  of  more  importance 
than  the  Union/7  which  is  not  the  fact.  What  he  does 
most  implicitly  believe  is,  that  it  is  impossible  to  preserve 
or  restore  the  Union  without  settling  the  slave  question 
satisfactorily  to  the  South. 

[From  the  Advocate,  October  11,  1862.] 

Our  Army  and  Navy  came  here  to  fight  for  the  Union 
and  Constitution,  not  for  the  negroes.  Coming  on  so 
laudable  a  mission,  they  were  welcomed  by  all  good 
Union  men,  and  by  the  women  too.  The  latter  were  not 
so  numerous  as  the  former,  because  their  superior  quick 
ness  of  perception  led  them  to  doubt  the  sincerity  of  those 
who  sent  them  here,  while  declaiming  for  the  Union  and 
the  Constitution ;  they  thought  they  were  proclaiming 
security  for  our  peculiar  institutions,  when  they  were 
panting  for  an  opportunity  to  invade  our  dearest  rights, 
secured  by  that  glorious  Constitution,  to  maintain  which 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  EEC. 


153 


the  war  of  1812  was  declared,  and  sustained  throughout 
by  the  whole  country,  in  which  the  editor  of  this  paper 
contributed  to  the  extent  of  his  ability,  and  did  not  ex 
pect  to  see  the  Star  Spangled  Banner  furled  so  near  the 
close  of  his  long  life. 

COTTON. — The  most  remarkable  thing  that  has  occurred 
since  the  war  commenced  is  the  continued  exportation  of 
cotton  from  Great  Britain  to  all  parts  of  the  world,  in 
cluding  the  United  States.  It  was  to  have  been  supposed 
that  the  first  act  of  that  far-seeing  nation  would  have 
been  the  prohibition  of  its  exportation.  Had  this  been 
done,  it  would  have  retained  a  supply  for  a  season  of  the 
material  so  essential  for  the  employment  of  her  laboring 
classes.  Not  having  done  so,  shows  her  obstinate  deter 
mination  to  defy  King  Cotton,  no  matter  at  what  cost. 

Those  who  hazarded  the  very  existence  of  this  Nation 
on  the  expectation  of  foreign  intervention  should  have 
known  better. 


Having  announced  our  entire  failure  in  accomplishing 
the  main  object  for  which  this  paper  was  established,  our 
readers  cannot  expect  us  to  discuss  that  subject  much 
further.  The  evil  has  come  upon  us  and  on  the  world, 
and  we  cannot  help  ourselves  until  the  ballot-boxes  shall 
be  freely  opened  to  us.  Then  we  shall  speak  in  the 
thundering  tones  that  become  freemen.  In  the  mean 
time  we  shall  submit  with  all  due  humility  and  obedience 


154  THE  REBELLION: 

to  the  authorities  placed  over  us,  endeavoring  to  make 
our  paper  interesting  by  the  publication  of  such  news  as 
may  be  received,  without  undertaking  to  control  public 
opinion.  That  being  irrevocably  fixed,  it  could  not  be 
changed  if  we  had  a  disposition  to  do  so.  g 


[From  the  Advocate,  November  7,  1862.] 
FOREIGN     INTERVENTION. 

So  great  is  the  desire  for  peace  that  the  foreign  news 
published  in  our  Wednesday's  extra  was  hailed  with  gen 
eral  joy  and  exultation.  As  sincerely  as  we  wish  for 
peace,  we  are  not  without  serious  apprehension  that  the 
intervention  which  that  news  foreshadows  will  not  prove 
acceptable.  Not  believing  in  the  disposition  of  the  rulers 
of  England  and  France  to  foster  and  cherish  our  form  of 
government,  we  have  already  said  "hands  off;  we  prefer 
to  manage  our  own  affairs  in  our  own  way."  We  say  so 
still,  and  did  not  believe  that  either  nation  would  hazard 
such  a  measure,  until  the  President's  emancipation  pro 
clamation  appeared.  So  strange,  uncalled-for  and  unex 
pected  a  proceeding  led  us  to  believe  that  it  was  brought 
about  by  some  secret  influence  hostile  to  the  South.  The 
mystery  is  now  unveiled.  We  fear  it  resulted  from  a 
disposition  to  meet  the  abolition  views  of  England,  in 
which  the  Emperor  of  France  has  acquiesced.  In  such  a 
case  their  intervention  will  be  a  cause  of  regret  rather 
than  of  rejoicing.  Let  us  wait. 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  155 

The  paper  continued  to  flourish,  becoming  the  most 
popular  paper  ever  published  in  Louisiana — particularly 
with  the  ladies — until  the  15th  of  November,  when  its 
publication  was  suspended  for  a  single  day  by  a  spe/cia* 
order  from  Major  General  Butler,  from  a  misapprehension 
of  the  editor's  views  in  relation  to  Foreign  Intervention. 
This  being  explained  to  the  General's  satisfaction,  the 
publication  was  resumed  on  Monday,  the  17th  November, 
as  appears  from  the  following  exulting  announcement 
which  appeared  in  that  paper  on  that  day  : 

THE  STARS  AND  STRIPES  UNFURLED THE  CANDLE  RELIGHTED. 

HEADQUARTERS  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  GULF,  ) 
NEW  ORLEANS,  November  14,  1862.      [ 

Special  Order  No.  513. 

The  Daily  Advocate  having,  after  warning,  published 
the  following  article  : 

11  The  Ballot-Box. — This  palladium  of  our  liberties,  this 
charter  of  our  rights,  this  emblem  of  Democracy,  has 
been  speaking  in  a  voice  of  thunder,  as  we  knew  it 
would  if  the  people  could  be  aroused  from  their  slumber- 
It  has  been  our  unceasing  endeavor  to  awake  them 
throughout  the  Nation. 

"We  were  the  first  to  tell  our  readers  of  its  success  in 
Pennsylvania,  Ohio  and  Indiana ;  and  now  we  have  grati 
fying  reports  from  Illinois,  New  Jersey  and  New  York. 
If  these  reports  be  confirmed,  an  armistice  will  soon 
follow.  Negotiations  once  commenced,  there  will  not  be 
any  more  fighting.  Whether  an  armistice  results  from 
the  Democratic  success,  or  from  foreign  intervention,  we 


156  THE  REBELLION: 

shall  hail  it  as  a  peace  measure — to  be   welcomed  by  all 
parties." 

The  publication  of  that  journal  will  be   discontinued 
from  this  date. 

By  command  of  MAJOR  GENERAL  BUTLER. 

GEO.  C.  STRONG,  A.  A.  General. 


ORLEANS,  November  15,  1862. 
Major  Gen.  Butler,  Com'g  Dept.  of  the  Gulf: 

General — I  take  pleasure  in  stating  to  you  in  this  note 
what  I  have  explained  to  you  personally,  that  the  pur 
port  of  the  objectionable  article  which  is  the  basis  of  your 
order  for  the  suppression  of  the  Advocate,  has  been 
understood  entirely  different  from  the  intention  of  the 
writer.  The  design  of  the  article  was  to  express  the 
ardent  desire  of  the  editor  of  this  paper  for  peace.  The 
religion  in  which  I  was  educated  was  peace  and  good  will 
to  rny  fellow  men,  and  I  have  always  advocated  peace. 
Nothing,  of  course,  can  be  more  ardently  sought  by  every 
well  wisher  to  the  country.  " Foreign  intervention"  was 
inadvertantly  mentioned  as  one  means  through  which 
peace  might  be  obtained,  and  the  article  would  certainly 
bear  the  interpretation  that  I  desired  such  intervention 
as  the  means  of  obtaining  peace.  This  I  regret.  I  have 
never  been  in  favor  of  any  intervention  by  any  foreign 
power  in  this  war  •  my  whole  thought  has  been  opposed 
to  it.  I  can  point  to  many  articles  in  my  paper  express 
ing  that  thought  I  am  entirely  opposed  to  any  inter- 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  157 

vention  by  foreigners  with  the  affairs  of  this  country, 
and,  if  permitted,  the  paper  will  most  fully  show  that 
opposition. 

I  am,  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

JACOB  BARKER. 


HEADQUARTERS  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  GULF,  ) 

) 


ORLEANS,  November  15th. 
Sir  —  Your  note  upon  the  subject  of  the  article  in  the 
Advocate  is  satisfactory,  and  its  publication  is  permitted. 
I  can  have  no  objection  to  any  proper  advocacy  of  peace. 
To  obtain  it  the  United  States  are  making  war.  But 
peace  can  never  be  obtained  by  "armed  intervention"  of 
a  foreign  power..  That  would  be  an  act  of  war,  and  its 
possible  effect  would  only  be  to  put  away  the  day  of 
peace. 

No  more  delusively  treasonable  idea  can  be  enter 
tained  than  the  advocacy  of  foreign  intervention,  which 
can  never  be  permitted,  either  directly  or  covertly,  in 
this  Department.  Whosoever  desires  foreign  aids  to 
rebellion,  and  expresses  that  desire,  is  a  traitor  and  an 
enemy  to  the  Government,  and  will  be  so  treated. 
Respectfully, 

BENJ.  F.  BUTLER,  Major  Gen.  Conrg. 
Jacob  Barker,  Esq. 


Long  before  peace  was  restored  President  Lincoln  was 
anxious  to  see  civil  authority  re-established  in  such  parts 


158  THE  REBELLION: 

of  Louisiana  as  had  been  conquered,  and  that  that  State 
should  be  represented  in  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States  by  her  permanent  citizens.  For  this  purpose  he 
recommended  an  election,  saying  :  if  one-tenth  of  the 
qualified  electors  of  the  whole  State  should  cast  their 
votes,  their  authority  should  be  recognized ;  and,  on  the 
21st  November,  1862,  he  addressed  a  letter  to  General 
Shepley,  as  follows  : 

' '  EXECUTIVE  MANSION,          ) 
"WASHINGTON,  November  21,  1862.  ) 

''Dear  Sir — Dr.  Kennedy,  bearer  of  this,  has  some  ap 
prehension  that  Federal  officers,  not  citizens  of  Louisiana, 
may  be  set  up  as  candidates  for  Congress  in  that  State.  In 
my  view  there  could  be  no  possible  object  in  such  an 
election.  "We  do  not  particularly  need  members  of  Con 
gress  from  those  States  to  enable  us  to  get  along  with 
legislation  here.  What  we  do  want  is  the  conclusive 
evidence  that  respectable  citizens  of  Louisiana  are  willing 
to  be  members  of  Congress,  and  to  swear  to  support  the 
Constitution,  and  that  other  respectable  citizens  there  are 
willing  to  vote  for  them  and  send  them.  To  send  a 
parcel  of  Northern  men  here  as  Representatives,  elected, 
as  would  be  understood,  (and  perhaps  really  so,)  at  the 
point  of  the  bayonet,  would  be  disgraceful  and  out 
rageous,  and  were  la  member  of  Congress  here,  I  would 
vote  against  admitting  any  such  man  to  a  seat. 

"  Yours,  very  truly,  A.  LINCOLN. 

"Hon.  G.  F.  Shepley." 

When  the  day  of  election  was  approaching,  Major  Gen 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  159 

Banks  informed  Mr.  Barker  that  he  was  very  anxious 
that  the  required  number  of  votes  should  be  cast.  Mr. 
Barker  replied  that  his  political  friends  were  unwilling 
to  take  any  part  in  the  election ;  that,  although  anxious 
for  the  resumption  of  civil  authority  and  the  success  of 
the  Democratic  party,  that  he"  had  not,  under  existing 
circumstances,  any  hope  of  a  fair  election ;  that  if  they 
should  call  a  public  meeting,  they  apprehended  that  its 
deliberations  would  be  interrupted  by  the  new-comers 
The  General's  .reply  was,  that  he  was  determined  that  no 
such  interruption  should  take  place;  that  if  the  political 
opponents  of  the  ruling  powers  thought  proper  to  call  a 
public  meeting,  he  would,  if  necessary,  send  a  military 
guard  to  preserve  order ;  that  he  wished  all  parties  to 
bring  forward  their  own  candidates ;  that  he  was  indif 
ferent  as  to  the  success  of  any  party ;  that  his  great  object 
was  to  have  the  required  number  of  votes  cast  to  secure 
the  recognition  of  the  State.  With  this  assurance,  the 
Democratic  party  embarked  in  the  election,  and  although 
it  was  conducted  without  mob  violence  or  the  anticipated 
interruptions,  they  were  defeated  by  the  receipt  of  illegal 
votes  at  the  polls,  and  the  application  of  money  sent  here 
from  the  North  by  the  Abolitionists,  to  be  refunded  by 
taxing  those  thus  defeated,  as  will  be  seen  by  the  follow 
ing  letter  : 

MR.  HAMILTON'S  LETTER. 
NEVIS,  DOBB'S  FERRY  P.  0.,  Jan.  5,  1864. 
Thomas  J.  Durant,  J2sq.,  New  Orleans: 

Dear  Sir — Your  letter  of  the  20th  ult,  was  received 
yesterday,  with  the  accompanying  papers. 


160  THE  REBELLION: 

Your  account  of  the  formation  of  the  Free  State  General 
Committee,  of  which  you  are  chairman,  composed  of  dele 
gates  from  all  the  Union  Associations,  whose  object  is  to 
call  upon  the  loyal  Union  citizens  of  your  State  to  elect 
delegates  to  a  Convention  to  form  a  Constitutional  Gov 
ernment,  making  Louisiana  a  Free  State,  and  loyally  to 
declare  that  the  people  thereof  owe  allegiance  to  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  as  a  paramount  duty. 
A  more  patriotic  effort  could  not  be  devised ;  nor  one 
more  deserving  of  the  sympathy  and  aid  of  the  loyal 
people  of  the  United  States,  and  the  protection  of  the 
National  Government. 

Your  Committee  have  been  pleased  to  ask  me  to  act 
as  their  agent ;  and  to  procure  funds  for  them  in  New 
York.  I  feel  honored  that  you  should  thus  have  con 
nected  my  name  with  this  great  first  step  in  the  true 
direction  to  restore  the  Unity  of  the  States,  the  Brother 
hood  of  the  People,  and  the  Authority  of  the  National 
Government  over  all  the  people  within  its  jurisdiction. 

Go  on  in  your  great  and  patriotic  work — you  must  be 
successful.  Your  devotion  to  the  great  principle  of  lib 
erty  on  which  our  system  is  founded,  and  your  energy 
will  be  rewarded  by  the  consciousness  of  having  restored 
civil  government  and  harmony  among  your  fellow-citi 
zens  ;  and  of  having  given  a  new  development  to  the 
great  material  resources  of  your  State.  Further,  you 
will  have  the  distinguished  honor  of  having  been  the 
pioneer  of  the  States  in  rebellion  in  that  great  Christian 
duty  of  elevating  the  social  condition  of  a  feeble  and 
much  oppressed  race  by  making  them  free. 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  161 

Your  example  will  lead  the  loyal  Union  men  in  States 
now  in  rebellion  to  take  the  same  wise  and  beneficent 
course,  and  through  its  influence  you  will  soon  see  the 
loyal  citizens -of  Tennessee,  of  Arkansas,  of  North  Caro 
lina,  and  of  Texas,  forming  free  and  loyal  State  govern 
ments,  and  thus  wheeling  into  line  in  obedience  to  their 
national  and  supreme  allegiance,  and  then  sternly  ex 
erting  the  repressive  energies  of  their  civil  State  govern 
ments  in  aid  of  the  military  power  of  the  United  States 
"to  reduce  the  refractory  into  obedience  to  the  laws." 

As  to  funds — I  will  not  only  contribute,  but  I  will 
endeavor  to  induce  others  to  do  so.  Allow  me  to  state 
that  in  order  to  carry  on  the  election  for  a  Convention  ; 
to  provide  for  the  members  and  officers  j  stationery  and 
printing  for  that  Convention  when  in  session;  to  submit 
the  Constitution  to  the  people,  and  carry  on  an  election 
for  that  purpose  j  to  provide  for  the  expense  of  an  elec 
tion  of  State  officers  and  the  members  of  the  Legislature  ; 
and  the  expenses  of  the  departments  of  State  and  of  the 
Legislature  at  its  first  session,  you  will  require  ^certainly 
not  less  than  $20,000. 

To  obtain  that  sum,  I  submit  that  it  is  better  to  borrow 
than  to  leg.  Call  your  free  State  delegates  together  ; 
appoint  a  committee  of  finance — three  or  five  of  your  best 
men!;  next,  pass  a  resolution  authorizing  this  committee  to 
borrow,  not  over  $20,000,  on  the  plighted  faith  of  the  loyal 
Union  people  of  the  State  of  Louisiana;  that  the  under 
standing  is  that  the  amount  so  borrowed  shall  be  recog 
nized  in  your  Constitution  as  a  debt  of  your  State,  to  b^ 
11 


162  THE  REBELLION: 

assumed  and  provided  for  by  the  Legislature  at  its  first 
session.  Having  passed  such  a  resolution,  pass  another 
authorizing  the  finance  committee  to  prepare  not  over 
two  hundred  certificates  of  indebtedness  of  one  hundred 
dollars  each,  payable  with  interest  at  ten  per  cent,  per 
annum,  within  one  year  after  the  inauguration  of  your 
free  State  Government, 

Such  course  will  give  you  all  the  funds  you  may  re 
quire,  because  it  will  give  your  friends,  who  are  the  loyal 
men  throughout  the  country,  the  highest  assurance  of 
your  earnestness  and  confidence  of  success  j  and  because 
it  will  be  understood  that  the  members  of  the  Convention 
who  shall  be  elected  are  pledged  to  provide  for  this  in- 
debtedness  as  the  price  paid  to  restore  the  people  to  their 
legal  rights,  privileges  and  duties. 

Such  is  my  confidence  in  your  efforts  to  restore  your 
State  to  its  true  condition  under  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  that  I  am  confident  there  will  be  found 
here  more  than  one  man  of  substance  who  will  endorse 
your  certificates,  should  that  be  necessary  to  give  them 
credit. 

I  am,  with  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

JAMES  A.  HAMILTON. 

Very  many  of  the  electors  who  had  taken  the  oath  of 
allegiance  to  the  United  States,  and  were  otherwise 
qualified,  by  the  laws  of  Louisiana,  to  cast  their  votes, 
being  unwilling  to  .take  the  "Iron-clad  Oath,"  which 
obliged  them  to  obey  and  support  proclamations  to  be 


ITS   CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  163 

thereafter  issued,  and  which  consequently  they  had 
not  seen,  Mr.  Barker,  believing  the  President  only 
meant  to  require  it  of  those  who  had  offended,  solicited 
such  an  explanation  from  him,  to  which  he  did  not 
receive  a  reply. 

The  Conservative  Committee  made  application  to  Major 
General  Banks  on  the  same  subject.  His  reply  put  an 
•end  to  all  hope  of  Conservative  success  in  the  election. 
It  was  nevertheless  deemed  expedient  to  bring  out  as 
large  a  vote  as  possible  to  restore  the  State  to  the  glori 
ous  Union, 


MR.  BARKER'S  LETTER  TO  THE  PRESIDENT. 

NEW  ORLEANS,  January  22,  1864. 
Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the  United  States  : 

Dear  Sir — Will  you  permit  me  to  ask  you  to  modify 
or  explain  your  proclamation  in  relation  to  the  return  of 
the  State  to  the  Union,  for  which  I  am  equally  anxious 
with  yourself.  If  enforced  according  to  its  literal  con- 
struction,  our  best  men  cannot  be  induced  to  become 
candidates,  and  the  votes  cast  will  be  of  a  very  limited 
number,  although  probably  enough,  say  one-tenth,  to 
secure  the  main  object  of  the  election. 

As  to  myself  I  have  not  the  least  objection  to  the  oath 
if  it  does  not  invade  a  vested  right,  nor  do  I  wish  to  vote, 
I  do  not,  for  myself,  or  any  member  of  my  family,  desire 
any  office  or  political  situation.  All  \te  wish  is  good 
government. 

I    think  you   meant  only  to  require    the  oath  which 


164  THE  REBELLION: 

accompanies  your  proclamation  of  those  who  had  not  pre 
viously  taken  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  United  States, 

Those  whose  names  were  registered  and  who  took  the 
oath  and  voted  at  the  last  Congressional  election,  which 
election  was  recognized  by  Congress,  think  you  did  not 
intend  by  your  proclamation  to  disfranchise  them  when 
they  had  all  the  qualifications  required  by  the  laws  and 
Constitution  of  Louisiana,  they  not  having  done  anything 
in  violation  of  the  oath  of  allegiance  taken. 

If  the  President  will  so  modify  or  explain  by  proclama 
tion,  or  authorize  Major  General  Banks  to  do  so  in  season 
to  be  known  through  our  lower  parishes  before  election 
day,  he  will  greatly  subserve  the  question  to  be  decided 
by  the  approaching  election  in  this  State.  Citizens  who 
have  not  sinned  cannot  honorably  accept  a  pardon. 

Very  respectfully,  I  have  the  honor  to  subscribe  myself 
your  obedient  servant,  JACOB  BARKER. 


LETTER  FROM  THE  CONSERVATIVE  COMMITTEE  TO  MAJOR 
GENERAL  BANKS. 

NEW  ORLEANS,  Feb.  8,  1864. 
Maj.  Gen.  N.  P.  Banks,  Com'g  Dept.  of  the  Gulf: 

General — We  are  particularly  anxious  to  be  informed 
whether  any  oath  will  be  required  at  the  election  to  be 
held  on  the  22d  inst.,  from  the  loyal  citizens  who  took' 
the  oath  of  allegiance  prior  to  the  date  of  President 
Lincoln's  proclamation,  the  8th  day  of  December,  1863T 
and  who  were  then  qualified  voters .  according  to  the  laws 
of  Louisiana. 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  EEC.  165 

In  our  opinion,  if  the  last  published  oath  should  be 
required  of  those  otherwise  qualified,  the  number  of  votes 
will  be  so  small  as  to  be  likely  to  defeat  the  proposed 
State  organization. 

We  respectfully  solicit  an  early  answer  for  publication. 
Permit  us  to  say  that  we  take  the  liberty  of  making 
these  inquiries  with  a  view  to  aid  in  the  best  way  the 
views  of  the  Administration  in  an  early  restoration  of  the 
State  government. 

With  great  respect,  we  have  the  honor  to  subscribe 
ourselves, 

Your  obedient  servants, 

C.  ROSELIUS, 
WM.  L.  ADAMS, 
JACOB  BARKER, 
J.  MORGAN  HALL. 


GENERAL    BANKS'S    REPLY    TO    THE  CONSERVATIVE  COMMITTEE. 

HEADQUARTERS  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  GULF,  ) 

NEW  ORLEANS,  February  14,  1864.      j 
• 
Gentlemen — 1   have    the   honor    to    acknowledge    the 

receipt  of  your  letter  of  February  8,  and  to  enclose  as  a 
general  answer  thereto  a  copy  of  an  order  issued  this  day. 
It  would  have  given  me  great  pleasure  to  have  found 
among  those  professing  a  willingness  to  support  the  Gov 
ernment  in  all  the  measures  deemed  necessary  for  the 
suppression  of  the  rebellion,  a  coincidence  of  opinion  as 
to  the  substantive  qualification  for  a  voter  in  the  election 
which  has  been  ordered.  This  I  have  not  been  able  to 


166  THE  REBELLION: 

obtain.     There  seems  to  exist  an  unnecessary  diversity  of 
opinion  upon  this  most  important  subject.     I  have,  there 
fore,  as  indicated  in  a  letter  published  some  time  sincer 
followed   the    course    directed   by  the   President   in  his. 
proclamation  of  the  8th  of  December.      After  much  re 
flection  upon   this  topic  I  am  satisfied  that  the  course 
pursued  is  wisest  and  best.      Sooner  or  later,  all  men 
must  come  to  the   declaration  which  is  contained  in  the 
order  of  this  date.     The  election  of  the  22d  of  February 
is  not  of  so  much  importance  as  others  which  will  follow 
in  the  full  restoration  of  the  Government  of  the  State  of 
Louisiana.     It  is  necessary  that  those  who  participate  in 
this,  the  first  election,  as  in  those  that  follow,  should  make 
public  their  purpose  in  regard  to  the  measures  of  the 
Government.      If  this  is  not  done  in  the  declaration  of 
private  assemblies,  in  the   organization  of  parties,  or  in 
the  presentation  of  candidates,  the  only  opportunity  that 
is  left  is  in  establishing  the  qualifications  of  the  voters. 
Acting  upon  this  view,  I  have  been  unable  to  comply 
with  the    suggestions   contained   in   your  letter,   which , 
under  other  circumstances,  I   should  gladly  have   done  ; 
and  I  commend  to  the   citizens  you  represent  an  earnest 
consideration  of  the  condition  of  public  affairs,  and  appeal 
to  them  to  make  at  once  that  declaration  of  purpose— 
which  in  the  end  must  be  required  of  all  men — to  sup 
port  the  measures  of  the  Government  necessary  for  the 
suppression  of  the  rebellion.     Though  they  have  suffered 
much  from  the  war,  they  have  received  important  favors 
from  the  Government,  which  is  still  desirous  of  restoring 


ITS   CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  167 

the  general  prosperity  that  attends  successful  industry 
and  extended  trade,  and.  every  effort  will  be  made  to 
strengthen  these  important  interests.  Assuredly,  it  is 
not  too  much  to  require  of  them  in  return  an  oath  of 
allegiance  to  the  Government,  attended  with  such  ex 
planatory  declarations  as  remove  the  suspicion  of  reserva 
tion  or  evasion,  and  places  the  citizen  who  takes  it  upon 
a  platform  of  open,  unreserved  and  unconditional  loyalty. 
It  is  plainly  inconsistent  with  any  sound  public  policy, 
that  an  oath  of  allegiance,  which  implies  a  qualified  dis 
sent  to  the  measures  of  the  Government  imposing  the 
obligation,  should  be  administered  to  any  class  of  citi 
zens. 

This  may  not  be  a  correct  int:rpretation  of  the  course 
you  recommend,  but  there  is  just  ground  of  apprehension 
that  it  will  be  so  understood. 

With  sincere  regret  that  I  have  been  unable  to  comply 
with  your  request,  and  an  earnest  hope  that  those  you 
represent  may  accept  the  views  herein  presented, 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  much  respect, 
Your  obedient  servant, 

N.  P.  BANKS,  Major  Gen.  Com'g. 
To  Messrs.   Jacob  Barker,   C.   Roselius,  J.  Morgan  Hall 

and  W.  L.  Adams. 


HIGHLY   IMPORTANT   ORDER QUALIFICATIONS  OF  ELECTORS. 

HEADQUARTERS  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  GULF,  ) 
]STEW  ORLEANS,  Feb.  13,  1864.      ) 

General  Orders.  No.  24. 

I.  Every  free  white  male  twenty-one  years  of  age,  who 
has  been  a  resident  of  the  State  twelve  months,  and  six 


168  THE  REBELLION: 

months  in  the  parish  in  which  he  offers  to  vote,  who  is  a 
citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  who  shall  have  taken 
the  oath  prescribed  by  the  President  in  his  proclamation 
of  the  8th  December,  1863,  shall  have  the  right  to  vot'e 
in  the  election  of  State  officers  on  the  22d  day  of  Feb 
ruary,  1864. 

II.  Citizens  of  the  State  who  have  been  expelled  from 
their  homes  by  the  public  enemy  on  account  of  their  de 
votion  to  the  Union,  and  who  would  be  qualified  voters 
in  the  parishes  to  which  they  belong,  will  be  allowed  to 
vote  for  State   officers  only,  in  the   election  precincts  in 
which,  for  the  time  being,  they  may  reside. 

III.  Citizens  of  the  State  who  have  volunteered  for 
the  defence  of  the  country  in  the  army  or  navy,  and  who 
are  otherwise  qualified  voters,  will  be   allowed  to  vote  in 
the  election  precincts  in  which  they  may  be  found  on  the 
day  of  election.      And  if  the  exigencies    of  the   public 
service  be  such  as  to  prevent  their  attendance  at  any 
established  precinct,  then  commissioners  fairly  represent 
ing  the  interests  involved  in  the  election  will  be  appointed 
to  receive  their  votes  wherever  they  may  be  stationed 
for  that  day,  and  to  make  due  returns  thereof,  as  well  as 
their  own  votes,  to  the  Military  Governor  of  the  State, 
as  provided  for  other  commissioners  of  election. 

IV.  The    commissioners  of  election,    at  any  election 
precinct,  are  authorized  to  administer  the   oath  of  alle 
giance,  as   prescribed   by  the    President,  to   any  person 
otherwise  qualified  to  vote,  and   to  register  the  name  of 
such  voter  in  Few  Orleaas  where  a  register  is  required, 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  169 

or  to  receive  it  in  other  parishes  when  no  register  is 
required,  at  any  time  before  the  polls  are  closed  on  the 
day  of  election. 

V.  The  commissioners  of  election  in  the  several  parishes 
will  make  prompt  returns  of  the  votes  given  to  the  sheriff 
of  th<^ parish,  as  provided  by  law,  or  in  his  absence  to 
the  Provost  Marshal,  who  will  immediately   return  the 
same  to  the  Military  Governor  of  the  State. 

VI.  The  sheriffs  of  the  several  parishes,  and  in  their 
absence,  the    Provost  Marshals,  will  take  especial  care 
that  the  polls  are  properly  opened,    and   that  suitable 
judges  of  election  and  other  officers  are  appointed.     It  is 
desirable  that  all  persons  properly   qualified  shall  vote, 
but  it  is  more  important  that  illegal  or  fraudulent  votes 
shall  not  vitiate  the  election. 

VII.  The  situation  of  Louisiana  is  not  identical  with 
that  of  other  States  designated  by  the  President,  but  the 
test  of  loyalty  required  by  him  as  a  basis  for  the  restora 
tion   of  Government  is   unequivocal.      Full  opportunity 
lias  been  given  to  the  people  for  the  suggestion  of  any 
obligation  more  in  accordance,  if  possible,  with  the  con 
dition  of  this  State,  but  no   general  unity  of  sentiment 
appears  to  exist  as  to  the  test  of  fealty  which  should  be 
demanded.     The  inference  is  irresistible  that  all  parties 
prefer  the  form  prescribed  by  the  President  to  any  other 
than  their  own. 

The  oath  prescribed  by  him  offers  amnesty  and  pardon 
only  to  those  who  have  committed  treason.  To  all  others 
it  is  a  simple  pledge  of  continued  fealty  to  the  Govern- 


170  THE  REBELLION: 

merit.  The  oath  of  allegiance  cannot  be  materially 
strengthened  or  impaired  by  the  language  in  which  it  is 
clothed,  but  it  may  be  accompanied  by  such  explanations 
as  to  make  known  to  the  public  the  sense  in  which  it  is 
administered  and  received.  Allegiance  cannot  be  more 
or  less  than  unreserved,  unconditional  loyalty. 

The  repetition  of  an  oath  once  taken,  or  when  un 
necessarily  clothed  in  unusual  language,  may  well  cause 
hesitation,  but  if  it  be  identified  with  the  restoration  of  a 
government,  at  a  time  when  secret  evasions  and  reserva-  ' 
lions  have  sapped  public  integrity,  and  endangered  the 
safety  of  the  nation,  it  is  an  unsound  patriotism  that 
criticises  the  form  or  hesitates  at  its  removal. 

In  times  of  public  danger  the  Government  has  a  right 
to  demand  an  unreserved  declaration  of  the  purposes  of 
all  its  people,  and  to  provide,  if  necessary,  an  iron-clad 
defence  against  the  weapons  of  its  enemies.  Those  who 
seek  its  favor  and  protection  must  yield  to  its  just  de 
mands.  .  An  exemption  from  all  duties  and  an  enjoyment 
of  all  privileges  at  the  same  time  is  a  greater  degree  of 
happiness  than  is  accorded  to  any  man  in  this  life.  Let 
the  people  of  Louisiana  look  at  things  as  they  are,  and 
bajse  their  political  action  upon  a  declaration  of  loyalty 
that  cannot  be  misunderstood  or  misinterpreted.  Upon 
this  depends  the  restoration  of  peace  and  private  and 
public  property. 

By  command  of  MAJOR  GENERAL  BANKS. 

RICHARD  B.  IRWIN,  A.  A.  General. 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  171 

The  election  resulted  in  favor  of  what  was  denominated 
the  Union  party,  it  being  impossible  to  counteract  the 
frauds  practiced  at  Wood's  Press. 

The  successful  party,  considering  it  expedient  to  cele 
brate  the  result,  determined,  among  other  things,  that 
the  city  should  be  illuminate^  inviting  Mr.  Barker  to 
take  part  therein,  as  follows  : 

NEW  ORLEANS,  Feb.  27,  1864. 
To  Jacob  Barker,  Esq.: 

In  accordance  with  the  resolution  passed  by  the  Gen 
eral  Committee  of  Arrangements  for  the  Inauguration  of 
the  Governor  elect,  you  were  appointed  on  the  Com- 
mitte  on  Finance.  Will  you  please  meet  the  Committee 
at  the  Mayor's  office,  City  Hall,  this  evening  at  8  o'clock. 
or  signify  your  acceptance  in  writing  to  the  Secretary. 
By  order,  GEORGE  A.  FOSDICK,  Chairman. 

J.  W.  THOMAS,  J.  T.  TUCKER,  J.  P.  COLLINS,  Secretaries. 

The  subjoined  letter  from  Mr.  Barker  was  his  answer  • 

NEW  ORLEANS,  February  27,  1864. 
Geo.  A.  Fosdick,  Chairman;  J.  W.  Thomas,  J.  T.  Tucker, 

J.  F.  Collins,  Secretaries: 

Dear  Sirs — In  reply  to  your  kind  notice  of  this  date, 
that  the  honorable  situation  of  a  member  of  your  com 
mittee  of  finance  had  been  conferred  on  me,  I  have  to 
remark  that  it  is  my  practice  to  obey  the  laws  and  to 
respect  those  placed  in  power  over  me  ;  henc.e,  I  am  dis 
posed  to  do  all  honor  to  his  Excellency  Governor  Halm : 
yet  I  cannot  take  part  in  the  proposed  illumination,  lest 


172  THE  REBELLION: 

it  should  be  construed  into  an  approval  of  the  invasion  of 
the  vested  rights  of  our  citizens. 

We  were  well  satisfied  with  the  rule  of  Governor  Shep- 
ley  and  did  not  wish  any  change  until  peace  took  place  ; 
yet  as  it  was  determined  on,  I  was  anxious  for  the  largest 
practical  vote  to  give  respectability  to  our  return  to  the 
glorious  Union. 

Although  the  Iron-clad  Oath  had  an  unmerited  influ 
ence  on  the  canvass,  the  vote  cast  in  the  rural  parishes, 
outside  of  the  military  stations,  indicated  the  feeling  of 
the  permanent  population  of  Louisiana,  and  it  is  there 
fore,  in  my  opinion,  best  to  submit  in  silence  to  the  rule 
established  over  us,  leaving  the  responsibility  with  the 
new  comers,  throwing  no  obstacles  into  their  way,  giving 
them  every  opportunity  to  establish  a  good  government 
without  any  contest  or  unsolicited  participation  in  the 
formation  thereof — therefore  I  beg  respectfully  to  decline 
the  honor  of  the  appointment. 

Your  obedient  servant,  JACOB  BARKER. 


There  were  not  any  returns  from  about  one-half  the 
rural  parishes,  and  those  which  came  in  indicated  that  a 
very  light  vote  had  been  cast,  viz  :  in  the  parish  of  St. 
John  the  Baptist  only  eighteen  votes  were  polled — one- 
half  for  the  successful  candidate  and  one-half  for  the 
Conservative  candidate — and  the  other  returns  are  in 
dicative  of  the  feeling  of  the  permanent  inhabitants  of  the 
rural  districts  of  Louisiana.  ,Six  parishes  cast  1698  votes, 
of  which  1415  were  for  the  Conservative  candidates,  the 
residue,  283,  were  for  the  Abolition  candidates. 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC. 
[From  the  Advocate,  Januaiy  3,  1863J 

"THE  WAY  WE  LIVE." 

"  I  invite  thce  to  a  calf's  head,  and  if  I  do  not  carve  it  most  curiously,  Fay  my 
inife's  naught." 

It  is  seldom,  indeed,  that  we  notice  the  diatribes  of 
malignant  spleen  or  besotted  envy  when  directed  against 
ourselves,  but  when  the  fair  daughters  of  our  city  are 
again  and  again  assailed  with  the  most  scandalous  libels, 
we  consider  it  our  duty  to  hold  the  libeler  as  a  thing  of 
scorn  before  "the  outstretched  finger  of  time."  .  Some 
weeks  ago,  when  military  rule  was  so  strict  as  to  make 
an  answer  impolitic,  the  editor  of  the  Delta  broadly 
asserted  that  the  dark  eyes  of  our  Creole  ladies  were 
derived  from  impure  sources — derived  from  an  unac 
knowledged  relationship  to  the  children  of  Ham.  Since 
then,  on  the  first  day  of  the  New  Year,  he  attempted  to 
enlighten  his  readers  as  to  "The  Way  We  Live,"  in 
nearly  a  column  of  vile  and  dastardly  insinuations  against 
the  morals  of  our  Southern  women. 

We  know  that  "to  err  is  human,"  and  therefore  will 
not  pretend  to  assert  that  every  Southern  woman  is  an 
angel  of  purity  j  but  we  will  assert — challenging  contra 
diction — that  our  Creole  ladies  are  as  elevated  in  their 
tastes  and  as  free  from  the  low  taints  of  vice  as  any 
women  to  be  found  in  the  wide  world.  In  the  moral  city 
of  Boston,  to  which  the  editor  of  the  Delta  refers  so 
frequently,  and  in  such  laudatory  terms,  there  are  insti 
tutions  as  detestable  as  any  that  can  be  found  within  the 
limits  of  the  South.  That  is  the  city  in  which  a  peculiar 


174  THE  REBELLION: 

paper,  known  as  "Life  in  Boston,"  is  published,  and  from 
the  scurrillous  character  of  many  of  the  leading  articles 
in  the  Delta,  since  it  could  boast  its  moral  military  editor, 
the  conclusion  as  to  where  the  moral  military  man  re 
ceived  his  editorial  training,  is  altogether  irresistible. 

Though  vile  and  false  as  anything  can  be,  "The  Way 
We  Live  "  displays  a  clerky  skill  in  the  use  of  words  not 
usually  found  among  the  Delta's  slanders.  Possibly  it 
may  have  been  stolen  from  some  "Paul  de  Kock"  of  the 
Northern  press,  for  editorials,  as  well  as  paper,  ink  and 
glue,  are  among  the  articles  surreptitiously  acquired  by 
that  journal  under  its  present  management.  Versed  only 
in  the  polemics  of  paltroonery  and  the  literature  of  degra 
dation,  the  editor  of  the  Delta  carries  a  shingle  for  a 
sword,  and  is  only  brave  when  protected  by  a  row  of 
bayonets.  He  has  proved  himself  a  bag  of  wind ;  prick 
him,  and  nothing  but  vile  gas  escapes.  Appointed  to 
conciliate  the  people  of  this  city,  his  editorial  career  has 
been  such  as  still  further  to  estrange  them.  Calling  those 
who  took  the  oath  of  allegiance  perjurers,  and  those  who 
did  not  traitors,  he  has  proved  false  alike  to  the  Govern 
ment  which  employed  him,  and  a  disgrace  to  the  naval 
and  military  power  of  which  he  pretended  to  be  the 
mouthpiece. 

Heaven  forgive  us,  that  we  have  stooped  so  low  as  to 
notice  him. 


After  the  resumption  of  the  publr-ition,  Mr.  Barker  was 
careful  not  to  write  or  to  admit  any  article  approbating 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  175 

foreign  intervention ;  nor  had  an  armed  foreign  interven 
tion  over  been  mentioned  in  the  columns  of  the  Advocate. 

Mr.  Barker  was  very  solicitous  that  the  paper 
should  be  conducted  to  the  satisfaction  of  Major 
General  Banks.  The  columns  of  the  Delta,  the  organ  of 
the  Government,  furnished  abundant  evidence  that  its 
editors  were  watching  over  him  for  evil,  and  the  retiring 
General  informed  him,  the  evening  before  he  left,  that 
those  editors  had  been  incessant  in  their  efforts  to  induce 
him  to  close  his  paper.  Desirous  as  Mr.  Barker  was  to 
exclude  everything  likely  to  be  disapproved  by  Major 
General  Banks,  he  was  not  entirely  successful,  therefore 
a  file  of  soldiers  took  possession  of  the  establishment  on 
Saturday  morning,  the  3d  of  January,  1863,  the  officer 
in  command  of  which  announced  the  paper's  suppression. 

Mr.  Barker  was  so  incessantly  applied  to  by  the  public, 
particularly  the  ladies,  to  solicit  of  Major  General  Banks 
the  liberty  of  resuming  the  publication,  that  he  was  in 
duced  to  pen  several  letters  to  that  eminent  civil  and 
military  genfleman  for  that  purpose ;  but  the  General 
was  inexorable,  as  will  be  seen : 

NEW  ORLEANS,  January  6th,  1863. 
Major  General  Banks: 

Respected  Sir — It  was  to  me  a  cause  of  deep  regret 
that  you  should  have  found  cause  to  suspend  the  publica 
tion  of  the  National  Advocate,  not  so  much  on  account  of 
my  pecuniary  interest  as  from  the  impression  created  thai 
I  am  unfriendly  to  the-^Union  cause,  which  is  not  now, 
nor  has  it  ever  been  the  case. 


176  THE  REBELLION: 

Although  my  efforts  to  exclude  all  articles  not  likely  to 
be  approved  by  the  military  authorities,  after  my  inter 
view  with  Col.  Strother,  were  not  entirely  successful,  I 
am  of  the  opinion  that  if  its  publication  be  resumed,  the 
care  taken  to  reject  all  objectionable  articles  will  in  future 
be  more  successful. 

This  paper  was  the  most  flourishing  in  the  city,  and  it 
seems  to  be  a  pity  that  any  profitable  establishment,  in 
these  dull  and  calamitous  times,  should  be  overthrown. 
As  to  myself,  I  have  other  and  m.ore  agreeable  employ 
ment,  while  there  are  twenty  or  thirty  employees  about 
the  establishment  who  have  no  other  means  of  earning 
bread  for  their  families.  If  there  is  any  person  connected 
with  the  army  likely  to  conduct  a  paper  satisfactorily, 
whom  you  would  wish  to  place  over  such  an  establish 
ment,  the  National  Advocate  can  be  had  on  very  advan 
tageous  terms,  as  I  dislike  such  occupation;  or,  if  not 
convenient  or  agreeable  to  make  the  purchase,  he  might 
be  employed  at  the  expense  of  the  paper  to  perform  the 
duties  of  editor.  * 

In  the  event  of  its  republication  being  permitted,  every 
day's  delay  is  of  the  utmost  importance. 
Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

JACOB  BARKER. 


NEW  ORLEANS,  January  8th,  1863, 
Major  General  Banks: 

Respected  Sir — I  had  this  honor  on  the  6th  inst.,  to 
which  I  have  not  received  any  reply- 


ITS   CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  17V 

If  you  should  not  have  decided  the  question  in  relation 
to  the  publication  of  the  National  Advocate,  I  will  thank 
you  to  peruse  the  article  herewith,  which  appeared  from 
ray  pen  in  that  paper  on  the  15th  ultimo,  from  which  a 
more  correct  view  of  my  sentiments  and  the  principles 
that  always  governed  that  paper  can  be  known,  than 
from  fugitive  articles  which  have  occasionally  appeared 
in  its  columns,  some  of  which  have  been  disapproved  of 
by  me. 

My  excuse  for  thus  troubling  you  is  an  unwillingness 
to  be  supposed  unfriendly  to  the  Union,  which  I  made 
great  sacrific.es  to  sustain  against  a  foreign  foe  in  1814, 
which  attachment  continues. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

JACOB  BARKER. 


ORLEANS,  January  13th,  1863. 
Major  General  Banks: 

Respected  Sir — From  the  conversation  I  had  the  honor 
to  have  with  you  on  Sunday,  I  was  induced  to  believe 
that  you  would  favor  me  with  an  early  decision  in  relation 
to  the  further  publication  of  the  National  Advocate, 
which,  on  many  accounts,  I  am  anxious  to  receive. 

You  remarked  that  you  disliked  to  undo  what  had  been 
done.  As  no  order  has  appeared  in  print,  closing  the 
office,  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  publish  any  order  for  its 
future  publication.  The  guard  being  withdrawn,  it  can 
proceed  without  further  explanation. 

Had  you  honored  me  with  an  opportunity  for  a  per- 
12 


178  THE  REBELLION: 

sonal  explanation,  which  I  sought  several  times  before 
the  publication  was  suspended,  I  am  of  the  opinion  that 
you  would  have  been  convinced  that  public  good  did  not 
require  its  suspension. 

Public  opinion  is  everywhere  regulated  by  the  ladies, 
and  in  this  city  they  consider  the  loss  of  the  Advocate  a 
great  privation ;  while  the  Delta  is  tolerated,  a  paper  that 
villified  them  without  stint — an  unpardonable  crime. 

Soon  after  your  arrival  I  presented  a  statement  of  the 
frauds  of  the  editors  of  that  paper  in  relation  to  the  sale 
of  the  Crescent.  I  hope  the  other  numerous  and  pressing 
claims  on  your  valuable  time  did  not  prevent  their 
perusal. 

Yery  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

JACOB  BARKER. 

To  these  letters  and  to  a  proposition  to  sell  him  the  paper 
the  General  very  courteously  replied,  orally,  that  he  did 
not  wish  the  paper,  that  he  had  not  any  use  for  it,  that 
the  guard  might  be  withdrawn — which  was  done — and 
in  relation  to  its  publication  he  did  not  like  to  undo  what 
had  been  done. 

When  conversing  with  Major  General  Banks  on  the 
subject  of  resuming  the  publication  of  the  National  Ad 
vocate,  the  General  suggested  to  Mr.  Barker  that  he  had 
better  put  his  views  on  paper,  which  was  done  in  the 
words  following : 

NEW  ORLEANS,  3d  August,  1863. 
Major  General  Banks  : 

Dear  Sir — In  compliance  with  your  suggestion,  I  place 
on  paper  my  views  in  relation  to  the  affairs  of  Louisiana. 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  1& 

I  was  required  to  take  the  oath  to  support  the  Consti 
tution  of  the  United  States.  I  have  done  so  to  the  best 
of  my  ability,  and  especially  so  through  the  columns  of 
the  National  Advocate  and  other  newspapers,  by  resisting 
its  violation  in  relation  to  slaves  and  other  property, 
confiscating  the  same  without  proof  of  disloyalty  or  even 
the  forms  of  trial. 

When  the  President's  emancipation  proclamation  ap 
peared,  I  suggested  to  the  then  Commanding  General  its 
extraordinary  character  in  the  following  words  :  ' '  We 
have  sworn  to  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States.  Where  shall  we  find  troops  with  which  to  make 
battle,  our  Commander-in- Chief  having  by  his  emanci 
pation  proclamation  arrayed  those  heretofore  enlisted  for 
that  avowed  object,  against  the  fundamental  principles  of 
our  faith?"  All  my  exertions  having  failed,  utterly 
failed,  I  placed  before  the  world,  in  pamphlet  form,  the 
opinions  I  have  entertained  and  promulgated,  and  there 
wish  to  leave  the  subject. 

The  ship  of  State  being  wrecked,  it  will  be  the  part  of 
wisdom  to  endeavor  to  construct  a  new  bark.  Our  slaves 
have  been  rendered  valueless  and  placed  in  a  position 
not  only  dangerous  but  offensive..  They  must  be  clothed 
and  fed ;  they  can  only  live  in  a  Southern  climate ;  they 
should  be  made  to  earn  their  own  livelihood,  and  their 
owners  had  better  abandon  their  claim  to  their  services, 
and  look  to  the  United  States  for  a  pecuniary  remune 
ration. 

Let  those  who  wish  to  leave  and  join  the  army  do  so — 


180  THE  REBELLION: 

the  in  ore  the  better.  In  this  way  fifty  thousand  could 
soon  be  organized  and  marched  into  Texas  with  facilities 
for  their  women  and  children  to  accompany  or  follow 
them ;  there  they  could  be  supported  for  one-half  the 
amount  it  would  cost  in  a  Northern  climate. 

The  United  States  have  an  abundance  of  vacant  land 
there,  where  they  could  be  colonized  when  the  war  is 
over,  and  such  an  army  of  fifty  thousand  able-bodied  men 
would  present  a  towering  argument  in  favor  of  the 
Monroe  doctrine.  A  suitable  police  should  be  placed 
over  those  who  did  not  wish  to  join  the  army,  and  they 
required  to  labor  faithfully  for  a  stipulated  compensation, 
to  be  paid  from  the  produce  of  their  labor. 

They  have  been  so  thoroughly  demoralized  that  with 
out  such  a  police  their  labor,  in  most  cases,  whether 
employed  by  the  United  States  or  by  others,  would  be 
valueless. 

What  proceedings  will  be  most  likely  to  bring  Louis 
iana  back  into  the  United  States  is  a  difficult  problem  to 
solve.  Kindness  and  confidence  in  each  other  beget 
similar  feelings,  and  until  the  public  feel  that  they  will 
be  secure  from  further  interruption,  they  will  not  be  in  a 
state  of  mind  to  form  a  new  Constitution  that  would 
prove  satisfactory  to  the  people  after  peace  shall  be 
restored. 

The  old  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  State  being  ig 
nored  by  military  law,  an  election  can  be  held  in  Novem 
ber  for  members  of  Congress  under  such  regulations  as 
the  military  authorities  think  proper  to  establish. 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  181 

By  the  new  census  Louisiana  is  entitled  to  five  mem 
bers.  Let  them  be  elected  on  a  general  ticket  to  be 
voted  for  by  every  white  loyal  citizen  who  has  resided  in 
the  State  a  required  period,  and  at  the  proper  time  let 
there  be  a  Convention  to  form  a  new  Constitution,  pro 
viding  for  an  immediate  or  ultimate  emancipation  of 
slaves. 

If  the  publication  of  the  National  Advocate  should  be 
resumed,  nothing  will  appear  in  it  at  variance  with  the 
opinions  herein  expressed.  How  far  it  will  be  deemed 
profitable  to  advocate  these  doctrines  before  the  public 
are  prepared  for  them,  is  very  questionable. 

If  the  paper  should  lose  its  influence  it  would  be  value 
less  to  the  proprietor  as  well  as  to  the  Government,  or  to 
any  party  to  which  it  might  be  attached.  The  great 
change  wished  for  in  the  public  mind  can  only  be  brought 
about  by  degrees. 

s,  I  was  greatly  disappointed  that  you  did  not  allow  me 
to  issue  an  "extra"  this  morning  with  the  news  we 
brought  to  the  city,  and  if  it  is  your  determination  to 
continue  the  suppression,  I  shall  be  obliged  by  your 
saying  so,  that  I  may  not  trouble  you  further  on  the 
subject. 

Our  intercourse  on  other  matters  has  been  so  agreea 
ble  to  me  that  I  dislike  very  much  to  have  the  Advocate 
concern  always  hovering  about  our  thoughts. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

(Signed)  JACOB  BARKER, 

Not  receiving  any  reply  to  this  letter,  application  was 


182  THE  REBELLION: 

again  made,  when  the  reply  was  that  certain  persons 
were  opposed,  alleging  that  the  object  of  the  paper  was 
to  favor  speculation  in  stocks,  currency  and  money,  and 
that  its  tendency  was  to  produce  excitement  prejudicial 
to  public  good.  This  being  an  entire  mistake,  the  fol 
lowing  letter  was  addressed  to  the  Commanding  General : 

NEW  ORLEANS,  August  16th,  1863. 
Major  General  N.  P.  Banks  : 

Dear  Sir — You  mentioned  to  me  that  there  was  an 
objection  to  the  publication  of  the  National  Advocate  on 
account  of  the  excitement  it  occasioned,  and  its  object 
being  to  affect  the  price  of  stocks. 

As  to  the  excitement  produced,  it  was  only  confined  to 
the  newsboys  who  throng  about  all  the  newspaper  offices 
when  an  "  extra "  is  coming  out,  and  make  merry  at  the 
prospect  of  profitable  employment ;  their  innocent  mirth 
did  not  harm  any  one,  and  continued  to  be  equally 
boisterous  about  the  other  papers  after  the  suppression  of 
the  Advocate. 

The  employees  of  the  Advocate  were  generally  more 
successful  in  obtaining  the  latest  news  than  others ;  this 
gave  rise  to  the  excess  of  the  joy  of  the  boys  over  that 
than  the  other  papers.  This  evidence  of  enterprise  and 
industry  I  think  merits  applause  rather  than  censure. 

The  editorials  which  appeared  in  the  Advocate  did  not 
in  any  case  produce  the  least  excitement,  nor  were  they 
intended  to  do  go.  As  to  the  other  questions,  I  have  not 
been  a  stock  dealer  for  years,  nor  have  I  purchased  or 
sold  a  dollar's  worth  of  United  States  or  bank  stock  since 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  1  83 

the  first  establishment  of  the  Advocate,  nor  written  a  line 
with  a  view  to  affect  the  market  price.  I  deal  principally 
in  United  States  Treasury  notes,  gold  and  silver  coin, 
exchange  and  bank  notes ;  and  nothing  has  ever  appeared 
in  the  editorials  influencing  the  market  price  of  either. 

The  money  articles  were  written  by  a  person  hired  for 
that  purpose,  whose  business  has  been,  and  continues  to 
be,  to  collect  information  on  the  subject  for  different 
newspapers — he  gets  his  information  from  others,  not 
from  me.  I  never  interfered  with  his  duties  further  than 
to  require  him  to  avoid  personalities,  and  under  no  cir 
cumstance  to  criticise  the  conduct  of  the  incorporated 
banks ;  if  he  did  so,  however  just  his  criticisms,  it  might 
be  ascribed  to  selfish  motives.  An  inspection  of  these 
money  articles,  although  somewhat  prosing,  will  estab 
lish  them  to  have  been  free  from  all  speculative  purposes. 
So  far  as  the  United  States  currency  is  concerned  I  have 
done,  and  am  doing  more  than  all  others  to  sustain  its 
market  price.  In  support  of  this  fact  the  numerous 
officers  of  the  army  and  navy  who  have  dealings  at  my 
bank,  can  give  abundant  testimony. 

The  persons  who  have  made  representations  to  you 
unfavorable  to  the  Advocate,  have  done  so  in  ignorance 
of  the  facts  about  which  they  undertook  to  speak,  or 
from  an  apprehension  that  its  publication  would  militate 
against  their  pecuniary  interest. 
I  Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

(Signed)  JACOB  BARKER. 


184  THE  REBELLION: 

In  reply,  the  General  remarked  that  his  secretary,  Mr. 
Tucker,  would  examine  the  matter.  For  this  purpose 
two  periods  were  fixed  between  Mr.  Tucker  and  the 
Editor  for  the  examination  of  the  files  of  the  Advocate 
and  hear  explanations.  Mr.  Tucker  not  finding  it  con 
venient  to  attend,  no  examination  took  place,  yet  General 
Banks  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  publication,  of  the 
paper  could  not  be  allowed,  which  determined  the  Editor 
to  sell  the  press  and  materials  of  a  newspaper  which  has 
been  devoted  to  the  cause  of  truth,  honor,  the  Constitu 
tion  and  Union  of  these  United  States,  circulating  the 
latest  reliable  information  received,  foreign  and  domestic, 
for  which  purpose  a  negotiation  was  commenced. 

Immediately  before  closing  the  sale  Mr.  Barker  had 
occasion  to  call  on  Col.  Holabird  on  other  business.  The 
Colonel,  introducing  the  subject  of  the  Advocate,  ex 
pressed  the  opinion  that  its  publication  would  be  per 
mitted  if  its  Money  Articles  were  not  renewed.  The 
Editor  replied  that  he  would  not  object  to  their  omission. 
The  Colonel  responded,  saying  this  had  better  be  sug 
gested  to  General  Banks.  The  reply  was,  no  further 
application  could  be  made  to  him  on  the  subject  by  Mi\ 
Barker,  except  at  the  General's  request.  The  Colonel 
then  said.  "Address  me  such  a  letter  ;"  which  was  done,. 
as  follows : 

NEW  ORLEANS,  September  14,  1863. 
Colonel  8.  B.  Holabird:  , 

Dear  Sir — Considering  the  question  of  the  republica- 
tion  of  the  National  Advocate  settled  by  General  Banks,. 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC. 


185 


without  the  opportunity  of  refuting  the  charges  made, 
although  he  appointed  his  secretary,  Mr.  Tucker;  to 
investigate  the  matter,  I  determined  never  again  to 
trouble  the  General  on  the  subject. 

The  paper  had  been  suspended  for  more  than  eight 
months — too  long  for  a  man  of  my  advanced  age.  Had 
the  General  come  quickly  to  that  determination  I  should 
have  submitted  without  complaining,  as  I  have  ever  felt 
for  him,  personally,  the  most  sincere  regard. 

Notwithstanding  that  I  considered  the  paper  dead,  and 
had  written  its  epitaph,  yet,  at  your  suggestion,  I  have 
to  remark  that  if  republished  the  Money  Articles,  which 
you  say  were  objectionable,  shall  be  excluded  from  its 

columns. 

+ 

Yery  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

(Signed)  JACOB  BARKER. 

The  letter  was  delivered  to  the  Colonel  with  the  un 
derstanding  that  he  would  see  General  Banks  on  the 
subject  that  afternoon  or  the  next  day.  'No  reply  being 
received,  and  Col.  Holabird  being  too  much  indisposed 
to  attend  to  the  matter,  the  pending  negotiation  for  the 
sale  was  consummated,  and  thus  the  attempt  to  bring  the 
paper  back  into  life  was  terminated,  forever  emancipating 
Mr.  Barker  from  such  duties  as  its  publication  imposed 
on  him. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  General  Banks,  in  the  matter 
of  the  suppression  of  the  Advocate,  acted  from  a  con 
scientious  belief  that  the  influence  of  the  paper  was 
prejudicial  to  the  policy  of  the  Administration,  particu- 


186  THE  REBELLION: 

larly  of  the  emancipation  and  confiscation  features,  and 
perhaps  of  the  great  cause  for  the  support  of  which  he 
had  been  sent  here — therefore,  Mr.  Barker  did  not  com 
plain.  As  to  the  latter  branch  Mr.  Barker  differed  with 
the  General  in  opinion.  He  then  thought  that  the 
only  way  to  reunite  the  South  with  the  North  was  in 
a  scrupulous  respect  for  individual  rights,  as  secured 
by  the  Constitution,  which  all  loyal  citizens  had  been 
required  to  take  the  oath  to  maintain.  As  a  firm  and 
consistent  supporter  of  the  Union  as  it  was  and  the 
Constitution  as  it  is,  the  National  Advocate  had  no  rival 
in  this  •  military  department,  and  the  editor  therefore 
respectfully  demurs  to  the  imputation  to  the  contrary, 
which  is  implied  by  the  military  suspension  of  the  paper, 
and  considered  by  Mr.  Barker  as  an  uncaled  for  infringe 
ment  of  the  freedom  of  the  press.  The  special  order 
of  General  Butler,  No.  2513,  made  the  opinions  of  Mr. 
Barker  a  matter  of  history. 


.       SENATOR   WILSON. 

The  Hon.  Henry  "Wilson,  member  of^  the  United  States 
Senate,  from  Massachusetts,  stated  to  that  body,  among 
other  things,  that  "Louisiana,  reorganized  under  Mr. 
Lincoln  by  her  few  loyal  men,  passed,  under  the  policy  of 
Mr.  Johnson,  into  the  hands  of  her  leading  secessionists ; 
that  she  elected  to  the  House  of  Representatives  Jacob 
Barker,  editor  of  the  Advocate,  twice  suppressed  for 
disloyalty."  Whoever  takes  the  trouble  to  read  this  pub- 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  187 

lication  will  perceive  that  the  honorable  Senator  is  totally 
mistaken  in  supposing  that  the  Advocate  had  been  sup 
pressed  for  disloyalty.  It  advocated  the  Union  and  the 
Constitution,  and  opposed  the  war  from  its  birth  to  its 
death.  The  letter  of  General  Butler  on  page  157  estab 
lishes  the  error  as  to  its  first  suspension,  and  the  letters 
of  Mr.  Barker  to  General  Banks,  on  pages  175  to  183 
establish  the  error  as  to  its  final  suspension.  Its  first 
suspension,  it  will  be  seen,  took  place  on  the  loth  No 
vember,  1862,  and  its  publication  was  resumed  on  the 
17th,  and  continued  until  January  3d,  1863,  when  it  was 
suspended  by  a  military  order  from  Major  Gen.  Banks, 
and  taken  possession  of  by  a  military  guard,  without 
there  being  any  reason  assigned  therefor.  It  had  been 
particularly  fortunate  in  obtaining  the  earliest  and  most 
reliable  information  from  the  armies  and  from  foreign 
nations,  presenting  the  same  to  the  public  as  it  came, 
without  any  other  object  than  to  be  the  first  to  herald 
forth  a  truthful  narrative  of  passing  events,  exposing  the 
falsehood  of  our  calumniators,  for  which  the  paper  was 
indebted  for  its  unequaled  popularity.  In  accomplishing 
these  objects  the  editor  was  under  great  obligations  to 
his  assistant,  Wm.  H.  C.  King,  Esq.,  the  present  propri 
etor  and  editor  of  the  New  Orleans  Times  newspaper. 

If  Major  General  Butler,  on  his  arrival,  had  pursued 
a  mild,  generous  and  conciliatory  course  in  other 
matters,  Mr.  Barker  is  confident  that  New  Orleans  would 
have  become  the  most  loyal  city  in  the  Nation. 


188  THE  REBELLION: 

Major  General  Butler  described  his  views  in  relation  to 
arming  slaves,  thus  : 

1;  But  I  am  to  act  hereafter,  it  may  be,  in  an  enemy's 
country,  among  a  servile  population,  when  the  question 
may  arise,  as  it  has  not  arisen,  as  well  in  a  moral  and 
Christian  as  in  a  political  and  militar}^  point  of  view. 
What  shall  I  then  do  ?  Will  your  Excellency  (Gov.  An 
drew,  of  Massachusetts)  bear  with  me  a  moment  while 
this  question  is  discussed  ? 

"I  appreciate  fully  your  Excellency's  suggestion  as  to. 
the  inherent  weakness  of  the  rebels,  arising  from  the  pre 
ponderance  of  their  servile  population.  The  question 
then  is  :  in  what  manner  shall  we  take  advantage  of  that 
weakness  ?  By  allowing,  and,  of  course,  arming  that 
population  to  rise  upon  the  defenceless  women  and  chil 
dren  of  the  country,  carrying  rapine,  arson  and  murder — 
all  the  horrors  of  St.  Domingo  a  million  times  magnified — 
among  those  we  hope  to  reunite  with  us  as  brethren, 
many  of  whom  already  are  so,  and  all  who  are  worth 
preserving  will  be  so  when  this  horrid  madness  shall  have 
passed  away  or  be  thrashed  out  of  them  ?  Would  your 
Excellency  advise  the  troops  under  my  command  to  make 
war  in  person  upon  the  defenceless  women  and  children 
of  any  part  of  the  Union,  accompanied  with  the  brutali 
ties  too  horrible  to  be  named?  You  will  say,  "  God  for 
bid  !"  If  we  may  not  do  so  in  person,  shall  we  arm 
others  so  to  do,  over  whom  we  have  no  restraint,  exer 
cise  no  control,  and  who,  when  once  they  have  tasted 
blood,  may  turn  the  very  arms  we  put  in  their  hands 
against  ourselves,  as  a  part  of  the  oppressing  white  race  ? 


ITS   CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  189 

The  reading  of  history,   so  familiar  to  your  Excellency, 
will  tell  you  the  bitterest  cause  of  complaint  which  our 
fathers  had  against  Great  Britain  in  the  war  of  the  Revo 
lution  was  the  arming  by  the  British  Ministry  of  the  red 
man  with  the  tomahawk  and  the  scalping  knife,   against 
women  and  children  of  the  colonies,  so  that  the  phrase 
'  May  we  not  use  all  the  means  which  God  and  nature 
have  put  in  our  power  to  subjugate  the  colonies?'  has 
passed  into  a  legend  of  infamy  against  the  leader  of  that 
Ministry  who  used  it  in  Parliament.     Shall  history  teach 
us  in  vain?     Could  we  justify  ourselves  to  ourselves,  al 
though  with  arms  in  our  hands,  amid  the  savage  wilder 
ness  of  camps  and  fields,  we  may  have  blunted  many  of 
the  finer  iroral  sensibilities  in  letting  loose  more  than  four 
millions  of  worse  than   savages  upon  the    homes    and 
hearths   of  the    South?     Could   we  be  justified  to   the 
Christian  community  of  Massachusetts  ?     Would  such  a 
course  be  consonant  with  the  teachings  of  our  holy  re 
ligion  ?     I  have  a  very  decided  opinion  upon  the  subject 
and  if  any  one  desires,  as  I  know  your  Excellency  does 
not,  this  unhappy  contest  to  be  prosecuted  in  that  man 
ner,  some  instrument,  other  than  myself,  must  be  found 
to  carry  it  on.'7 

Gen.  Butler  came  here  to  respect  Southern  rights  in  re 
lation  to  slavery  and  acted  in  accordance  therewith,  so  far 
as  it  could  be  done  consistent  with  the  action  of  Congress 
and  of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  until  he  was 
superceded  by  Major-General  Banks,  and  then  he  threw 
himself,  body  and  soul,  into  the  arms  of  the  Abolition 
party. 


190  THE  REBELLION: 

The  war  spirit  predominates  through  the  land.  We 
may  therefore  look  for  a  military  chieftain  to  rule  over 
us  the  next  term.  General  Butler  aspired  to  that  high 
honor,  and  if  he  had  kept  clear  of  the  Abolition  faction, 
he  might  have  been  the  man. 


THE    EDUCATION    OF    EMANCIPATED    SLAVES. 

After  all  their  slaves  had  been  emancipated,  without 
compensation,  their  former  owners — most  of  whom  were 
made  insolvent  by  such  emancipation — were  called  on  to 
pay  a  tax,   termed   the    "school   tax,"  on  the  assessed 
value  of  their  property  before  such  emancipation  took 
place,  under  General  Order  No.  38,  issued  by  Major  Gen. 
Banks,  which   was   not  acted  on   by  the    General,  but 
allowed  to  sleep  on  the  shelves  of  the  Department  until 
September,  1865,  when  notice  was  published  in  the  New 
Orleans  Times  to  all  those  whose  names  commenced  with 
the   initial  A.,  to  appear  at  the    office    of  the    Provost 
Marshal,    parish    of    Orleans,    and    there    deposit    the 
amount  of  tax  levied  upon  them  in  pursuance  of  the 
said  order  No.  38,  notifying  the  public  that  the  publica 
tion  of  the  names  of  those  taxed   would  be  continued 
daily   in    alphabetical    order.       Mr.    Barker    protested 
against  such  an  exposure  of  the  private  affairs  of  indi 
viduals,  as  well  as  against  the  enormous  expense — the 
names  of  those  commencing  with  the  initial  A.  having 
more  than  filled  a  column  of  the  newspaper — whereupon 
such  publications  were  discontinued,  and  the  sending  of 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  191 

individual  notices,  at  a  charge  of  fifty  cents  for  each,  was 
substituted,  thus  : 

OFFICE  ASST.  PKOVOST  MARSHAL  GEN.  OF  FREEDMEN.  } 

No.  32  Carondelet  street. 
820.          NEW  ORLEANS,  October  7th,  1865.      ) 

[Bring  this  notice  with  you.] 

Mr.  Jacob  Barker — You  are  hereby  notified  to  appear 
at  this  office  immediately  and  deposit  the  tax  levied  upon 
you  in  accordance  with  General  Order  No.  38,  series  of 
1864,  amounting  to  one  hundred  and  forty-four  dollars, 
in  default  of  which  seizure  and  sale  will  be  made  to  cover 
the  amount  and  costs. 

[Notice  50  cents.]  T.  W.  FOSTER,  JR., 

1st  Lieut,  and  Asst.  Prov.  Marshal  Gen.  of  Freedoien. 

Mr.  Barker,  who  had  always  favored  universal  educa 
tion,  considered  that  the  cost  of  educating  emancipated 
slaves  should  be  born  by  the  United  States  Treasury,  and 
not  by  any  particular  class  or  district  of  country,  in  as 
much  as  the  Constitution  provides  that  all  taxation  shall 
be  equal,  and  particularly  not  by  those  who,  without 
fault,  had  been  deprived  of  their  all ;  and  if  compelled  to 
pay,  nothing  could  be  more  unjust  than  to  estimate  the 
amount  of  tax  on  the  value  of  property  which  no  longer 
existed.  He  drew  a  petition  to  Major  General  Canby. 
invoking  his  interference  to  stay  the  execution  of  the 
unlawful  and  unconstitutional  measure,  fraught  with 
injustice  and  oppression,  which  petition  received  the 
signatures  of  many  hundreds  of  our  citizens  and  was  pre 
sented  to  General  Canby,  who  declining  to  grant  the 


192  THE  REBELLION: 

solicited  relief,   transmitted  it,  by  request,  to  the  War 
Department  at  Washington. 


His  Excellency  Governor  Wells  addressed  a  letter  to 
General  Canby  on  this  subject,  viz  : 

[Copy.] 

STATE  OF  LOUISIANA,  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT,  ) 
NEW  ORLEANS,  October  13,  1866.      ) 

Major  Gen.  E.  JR.  S.  Canby,  Com'g  Dept.  of  Louisiana: 

General — It  is  with  some  reluctance  that  I  address 
you  on  the  subject  of  General  Orders  No.  38,  relating  to 
the  education  of  freedmen,  because  I  am  aware  you  have 
a  petition  before  you  from  a  number  of  tax-payers  of  the 
city,  complaining  of  the  tax  levied,  as  illegal,  both  in  a 
civil  and  military  sense,  and  praying  you  to  revoke  said 
order.  I  was  willing  to  await  your  action  on  said  peti 
tion  before  interfering,  but  as  a  peremptory  order  has 
been  issued  for  the  collection  of  this  tax,  and  regarding 
the  same,  as  not  sanctioned  by  any  law  of  the  United 
States  and  therefore  is  an  infringement  on  the  power  of 
the  State,  I  feel  it  my  duty  as  the  Chief  Executive  thereof 
,to  respectfully  protest  against  the  levy  of  the  tax  em 
braced  in  said  order,  for  the  reason  assigned.  I  would 
state,  I  have  carefully  read  the  act  of  Congress  creating 
the  Freedmen's  Bureau,  as  well  as  the  various  circulars 
issued  by  Major  General  Howard,  Chief  Commissioner, 
prescribing  the  rules  and  regulations  relating  to  the  same. 
In  the  act  of  Congress  1  find  no  allusion  whatever  to 
schools.  In  Circular  No.  11,  issued  by  General  Howard, 
I  find  the  following  extract : 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  193 

1  'The  Assistant  Commissioner  will  designate  one  or 
more  of  his  agents  to  act  as  the  General  Superintendent 
of  Schools  (one  for  each  State),  for  Refugees  and  Freed- 
men.  This  officer  will  work  as  much  as  possible  in  con 
junction  with  State  officers  who  may  have  school  matters 
in  charge.  If  a  general  system  can  be  adopted  for  a 
State,  it  is  well ;  but  if  not,  he  will  at  least  take  cogni 
zance  of  all  that  is  being  done  to  educate  refugees  and 
freedmen,"  etc. 

No  reference  is  here  made  to  any  tax  for  the  support 
of  such  schools,  nor  do  I  hear  of  any  tax  being  levied  in 
other  States  for  such  purposes.  I  would  further  remark 
that  the  imposition  of  this  tax  is  in  contravention  of  the 
Constitution  of  our  State.  (See  Article  141.)  I  have  no 
doubt  that  at  the  meeting  of  the  Legislature  provision 
will  be  made  by  law  for  the  education  of  colored  children, 
in  pursuance  of  that  section. 

Trusting,  sir,  that  you  will  give  the  matter  your  atten 
tion,  and  by  revoking  the  order  referred  to,  thus  save 
me  the  trouble  of  appealing  to  Washington  for  redress. 

I  have  the  honor  to  remain, 

Very  truly  your  obedient  servant, 

(Signed)  J.  MADISON  WELLS, 

Governor  of  Louisiana. 

REPLY  OF  GENERAL  CANBY. 
HEADQUARTERS  DEPARTMENT  OF  LOUISIANA,  ) 
XEW  ORLEANS,  Oct.  18,  1865.      ) 
To  His  Excellency  the  Governor  of  Louisiana, 

New  Orleans,  La.: 

I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your 
13 


194  THE  REBELLION: 

communication  of  the  13th  inst.  in  relation  to  the  taxes 
for  school  purposes,  levied  and  now  being  collected  under 
General  orders  No.  38,  of  1864. 

This  order  was  issued  by  competent  authority,  and  was 
within  the  legal  discretion  of  the  Commander  who  issued 
it.  It  was  one  of  a  series  of  measures  dating  from  the 
first  occupation  of  the  city  by  the  forces  of  the  United 
States,  forced  upon  the  army  by  military  exigencies,  and 
adopted  by  it  for  the  purpose  of  relieving  the  citizens  of 
New  Orleans  from  grievous  burdens,  and  disembarrassing 
the  army  from  encumbrances  that  would  have  hampered 
its  movements  and  emasculated  its  efficiency. 

The  city  of  New  Orleans  was  in  no  condition  to  feed 
the  forty  thousand  of  its  inhabitants  who  were  then  fed, 
or  of  the  gradually  diminishing  numbers  in  the  interme 
diate  periods  to  the  present  time,  to  the  twelve  thousand 
that  are  in  part  still  fed  by  the  army.  It  was  in  no  con 
dition  to  sustain  the  public  charities  that  have  been  and 
are  still,  to  a  considerable  extent,  relieved  by  the  army; 
nor  for  the  care  and  education  of  the  several  thousand 
colored  children  which,  but  for  the  assistance  rendered 
by  the  army,  would  have  been,  to  a  material  extent,  a 
charge  upon  the  city  treasury  or  a  burden  upon  the 
public  and  private  charities  of  its  inhabitants. 

It  is  not  'pertinent  to  this  question  to  discuss  the 
wisdom  of  these  measures.  It  is  sufficient  to  say  that 
they  were  adopted  at  a  time  of  great  public  and  military 
exigency,  and  that  as  a  practical  result  they  have  relieved 
the  city  and  people  of  New  Orleans,  independent  of  the 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  1 95 

contributions  that  have  been  levied  especially  for  that 
purpose,  of  an  expenditure  of  more  than  $2, 000,000,  and 
that  some  of  the  exigencies  have  fallen  upon  us  by  a 
natural  and  inevitable  inheritance,  which  we  must  meet 
as  we  may  best  meet  them. 

I  have  already  advised  your  Excellency,  both  orally 
and  in  writing,  that  the  necessities  above  indicated  have 
outrun  the  means  at  the  disposal  of  the  military  authori 
ties  for  their  relief,  and  that  advances  have  been  made 
not  authorized  by  law  or  regulations,  that  should  be  re 
imbursed  in  order  to  save  the  officers  who  made  them 
from  pecuniary  accountability  at  the  Treasury  of  the 
United  States.  These  amount  in  the  aggregate  to  be 
tween  $375,000  and  $400,000,  and  have  been  made  in 
the  interest  and  for  the  benefit  of  the  people  of  New 
Orleans.  The  collection  of  the  particular  tax  to  which 
your  communication  refers  is  one  of  these  cases. 

Under  the  law  of  March  3d,  1865,  and  the  order  of  the 
President,  of  June  2d,  1865,  the  subject  was  transferred 
to  the  Bureau  of  Refugees,  Freedmen  and  Abandoned 
Lands,  and  is  now  under  control  of  that  Bureau,  except 
so  far  as  military  authority  may  be  necessary  to  enforce 
its  collection,  and  that  collection  is  necessary  in  order  to 
reimburse  advances  made  to  the  Freedmen's  Bureau, 
and  for  that  reason  is  urged  by  Commissioner  General 
Howard,  at  the  head  of  that  Bureau. 

Its  remission  at  this  time  will  necessarily  throw  upon 
the  State  and  city  much  greater  burdens  than  they  are 
now  bearing.  But  while  I  cannot  concede  that  the  points 


196  THE  REBELLION: 

made  by  the  petitioners  have  been  well  considered  by 
them  or  that  the  remission  can  properly  be  claimed  upon 
any  principle  of  justice  or  equity,  I  will  very  willingly 
unite  with  your  Excellency  and  General  Fullerton  in  any 
measure  of  relief  that  may  be  devised. 

Very  respectfully,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 
(Signed)  B.  R.  S.  CANBY, 

Major  General  Commanding. 


In  the  meantime,  General  Fullerton  arrived  in  this  city 
and  took  the  place  of  the  Rev.  Thos.  Conway  at  the  head 
of  the  Freedmen's  Bureau.  He  immediately  suspended 
the  execution  of  the  obnoxious  order,  by  issuing  the  sub 
joined  circular  : 

HEADQUARTERS  BUREAU  OF  REFUGEES, 

FREEDMEN  AND  ABANDONED  LANDS, 
State  of  Louisiana,  New  Orleans,  Nov.  7,  1865. 

Circular  No.  27. 

The  collection  of  the  school  tax,  levied  by  virtue  of 
General  Orders  No.  38,  1864,  Headquarters  Department 
of  the  Gulf,  and  which  is  now  being  collected  by  officers 
of  this  Bureau,  is  hereby  suspended. 

The  officers  who  have  been  collecting  this  tax  will, 
without  delay,  forward  to  this  office  complete  rolls,  which 
shall  show  the  names  of  all  persons  from  whom  they 
have  collected  the  tax ;  the  amount  of  tax  collected  from 
each  of  such  persons,  and  the  assessed  value  of  their 
property. 

By  order  of  Brevet  Brigadier  Gen.  J.  S.  FULLERTON, 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  197 

Assistant  Commissioner,  Bureau  of  Refugees,  Freedmen 
and  Abandoned  Lands,  State  of  Louisiana. 

D.  G.  FENNO, 
1st  Lieutenant  and  A.  A.  A.  G. 

General  Fullerton  conducted  the  business  of  the 
Bureau  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  this  community,  but 
he  was  not  allowed  to  remain  at  the  post  many  days, 
and  his  successors  renewed  proceedings  for  collecting  the 
tax,  until  instructions  were  received  from  Washington 
discontinuing  its  further  collection,  when  the  following 
order  was  issued  by  General  Howard.  It  will  be  ob 
served  that  this  order  omits  to  order  a  restitution  of  the 
money  collected : 

WAR  DEPARTMENT,  NEW  ORLEANS,  April  12,  1866. 
Ifrevet  Major  Gen.  JSaird,  Asst.  Commissioner: 

By  direction  of  the  Secretary  of  War  the  collection  of 
the  school  tax  referred  to  in  the  resolutions  of  the  Louis 
iana  Legislature,  approved  by  the  Governor  March  22d, 
1866,  to  be  suspended  until  further  orders. 

0.  0.  HOWARD,  Major  General. 


The  New  Orleans  Times  spoke  thus  of  Gen.  Fullerton  : 

[From  the  New  Orleans  Times.] 
JUDICIOUS    CIRCFLARS. 

Since  his  arrival  in  New  Orleans  Gen.  Fullerton  has 
won  golden  opinions  from  all  of  our  people  whose  good' 
opinions  are  worth  having.  Familiar  with  the  Presicfent,. 
and  faithfully  determined  to  carry  out  his  views,,  he*  un 
ostentatiously  stepped  into  the  Conimissioiiership-  vacated 


198  THE  REBELLION: 

by  the  removal  of  Mr.  Conway,  and  at  once,  by  the  ap 
plication  of  practical  judgment  and  a  common  sense 
appreciation  of  the  fitness  of  things,  brought  order  out  of 
chaos.  Before  he  came  among  us  "  the  bayonet  in  the 
hands  of  the  negro"  was  rapidly  becoming  our  only  law. 
The  crushing  of  the  rebellion  was  not  enough  for  the 
fanatical  herd  who  set  themselves  up  as  the  prophets  and 
priests  of  universal  equality ;  they  clamored  for  the  utter 
crushing  out  of  those  who.  under  a  mistaken  notion  of 
political  rights,  had  joined  in  the  rebellion,  and  the 
raising  up  in  their  stead  of  an  inferior  race,  for  whom 
they  demanded  the  highest  privileges  of  citizenship. 
Freedmen  who  saw  in  freedom  a  vast  array  of  magnificent 
yet  indescribable  privileges,  but  who  knew  nothing  of 
that  " eternal  vigilance"  which  is  its  price,  were  to  be 
raised  above  the  white  people  of  the  South  who  always 
had  been,  and  of  right  should  be,  part  and  parcel  of  the 
Government. 

Under  a  government  of  the  people  there  can  be  no 
rebellion,  as  the  term  is  understood  in  monarchical  and 
despotic  lands.  The  people  here  are  their  own  rulers, 
and  they  cannot  rebel  against  themselves  in  the  same 
sense 'that  subjects  may  rebel  against  Emperors  who 
claim  "a  right  divine  to  govern  wrong."  There  may  be 
grave  quarrels  under  our  form  of  government  about  dis 
puted  rights,  but  the  weaker  party  must  of  necessity 
submit  to  the  stronger,  just  as  in  our  late  election,  the 
"Union  Conservatives"  and  radicals  had  to  submit  to  the 
^.unterrified  Democracy."  To  those  who  attempted  a 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  199 

revolution  in  the  South  the  cost  was  truly  fearful.  They 
lost  the  accumulations  of  half  a  century,  and  among  them 
the  servant  for  a  time  became  privileged  above  his 
master.  Under  the  teachings  of  incendiary  missionaries, 
who  had  gone  among  them  to  preach  anything  but  peace, 
the  negroes  became  insolent,  defiant  and  generally  de 
moralized.  Urged  to  convert  Louisiana  into  another  St. 
Domingo,  unless  the  property  of  their  old  masters  were 
divided  among  them  and  electoral  privileges  were  at 
once  conceded,  it  is  strange  indeed  that  their  demoraliza 
tion  did  not  assume  a  more  violent  and  decided  shape. 
Had  they  been  of  the  same  temper  of  their  teachers  the 
consequences  might  have  been  of  the  most  fearful 
character. 

When  General  Fullerton  arrived  here  ruin  stared 
Louisiana  in  the  face.  The  labor  system  was  so  disor 
ganized  and  surrounded  by  artificial  restrictions  that 
planters  were  ready  to  abandon  their  plantations  rather 
than  undertake  their  cultivation.  But  within  a  few  weeks 
a  great  change  has  been  wrought.  One  judicious  circular 
after  another  has  been  issued  from  the  headquarters  of 
the  Freedmen's  Bureau  in  this  city,  till  the  people  have 
become  inspired  with  new  hopes,  and  tlfey  are  now 
resolved  to  battle  bravely  with  the  difficulties  of  their 
situation.  The  considerate  course  pursued  by  General 
Fullerton  has  increased  the  confidence  of  our  citizens  in 
the  Government,  strengthened  their  loyalty,  and  enlarged 
their  respect  for  human  nature.  Among  the  most  im 
portant  of  the  Bureau  Circulars  recently  issued,  is  that 


200  THE  REBELLION: 

in  regard  to  freedmen's  contracts.  With  a  stroke  of  his 
pen  General  Fullerton  has  swept  away  those  complicated 
and  confused  restrictions  which  were  left  as  a  legacy  by 
General  Banks,  when  he  shook  off  the  dust  of  Louisiana 
from  his  feet,  and  labor  and  capital  are  now  left  to  adjust 
their  relations  according  to  the  natural  laws  of  supply 
and  demand.  This  recognition  of  the  generally  received 
principles  of  political  economy  will  have  an  immediate 
effect  in  advancing  the  agricultural  interests  of  the  State, 
and  will  also  prevent  a  great  deal  of  misery  among  the 
less  provident  members  of  our  late  servile  population. 
Another  important  circular  suspends  the  collection  of  an 
arbitrary,  unequal,  and  illegal  tax  for  the  alleged  support 
of  colored  schools.  This  circular  was,  as  we  are  led  to 
understand,  issued  under  direct  instructions  from  Presi 
dent  Johnson ;  but  the  unequal  character  of  the  tax,  and 
other  facts  in  relation  to  it,  were  doubtless  communicated 
to  our  worthy.  Chief  Magistrate  by  General  Fullerton 
himself.  Under  the  circumstances,  the  citizens  of  Louis 
iana  owe  to  General  Fullerton  a  debt  of  gratitude  which 
they  cannot  readily  repay. 


TREATMENT  OF  LOYAL  NORTHENERS. 

The  Radicals  complain  at  the  treatment  their  friends 
receive  here.  They  are  imposed  on  by  those  who  come 
here  for  plunder.  (See  the  letter  published  in  the  "New 
York  Tribune,  dated  February  13,  1866,  purporting  to 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  201 

« 

be  signed  by  a  citizen  of  New  Orleans,  calumniating 
Gen.  Fullerton  for  accepting  civilities  from  our  citizens.) 
Strange  that  they  did  not  impugn  the  motives  of  Gen 
erals  Butler,  Banks,  Bowen,  Sherman  and  Shepley  for 
receiving  hospitalities  from  Mr.  Jacob  Barker  and  others. 
What  is  more  strange  is  that  they  are  not  satisfied  with 
the  citizens  of  New  Orleans  for  having  selected  a  uniform 
Unionist,  born  in  Maine,  to  represent  them  in  Congress. 
They  remind  us  of  Robinson  Crusoe's  story  about  blow 
ing  hot  and  cold  with  the  same  breath. 


RECOGNITION. 

The  Louisiana  Senate  Committee  on  Federal  Relations, 
to  whom  was  referred  the  House  "  joint  resolutions  ex 
pressive  of  the  sentiments  of  the  people  of  Louisiana 
relative  to  the  National  Government"  beg  leave,  respect 
fully  to  report  that  they  find  among  the  records  of  the 
Senate  "joint  resolutions  relative  to  Federal  relations,'7 
(numbered  in  the  Senate  "No  8,"  and  in  the  House  "No. 
26,")  which  passed  the  Senate  on  the  2d  of  December, 
1865,  and  was  unanimously  concurred  in  by  the  House  of 
Representatives  on  the  same  day ;  which  resolutions,  in 
the  opinion  of  the  committee,  briefly,  comprehensively 
and  truthfully  express  "the  sentiments  of  the  people  of 
Louisiana,  relative  to  the  National  Government, w  and 
renders  unnecessary  the  action  contemplated  by  the 
resolutions  now  under  consideration. 


202  THE  REBELLION: 

For  which  reason  the   committee  respectfully   report 
the  joint  resolution  expressive  of  the  sentiments  of  the 
people  of  Louisiana,  relative  to  the  General  Government 
as  unnecessary.     As,  however,  the  Senate  resolutions  of 
the  extra  session  alluded  to  do  not  appear  in  the  printed 
journals,  and  have,  no  doubt,  for  that  reason  been  over 
looked,  your  committee  respectfully  recommend  that  they 
be  now  spread  upon  the   minutes,  in  connection  with  and 
as  a  part  of  this  report,  to  be  published  in  the  journal  of 
this  session,  and  for  that  purpose  they  annex  a   copy  of 
said  resolutions.     In  regard  to  that  particular  feature  of 
the  House  "joint  resolutions"  now  under  consideration 
by  your  committee,  which  refers  to  the  condition  of  the 
freedmen  in  Louisiana,  they  further  considered  the  action 
would  be  unnecessary  in  view  of  the   humane  provisions 
of  the  law  of  Louisiana  which  existed  long  anterior  to  the 
events  of  the  late  war,  and  which  extend  to  all  free  per 
sons  of  color  alike,  the  right  to  acquire  education,  to 
testify  in  courts  of  justice,  the  right  to  hold  property,  to 
possess  the  same  by  deed  or  will,  descent  or  otherwise— 
the  general  laws  of  succession  and  marriage,  husband  and 
wife,  parent  and  child,  tutorship,  minority,  etc.,  etc.,  and 
the  same  protection  of  person  and  property  accorded  to 
the  white  man — in  a  word,  the  guarantees  of  law  for  life, 
liberty  and  the  pursuit  of  happinesss.     In  these  respects 
the  laws  of  Louisiana  are  and  always  have  been  different 
and  exceptional,  among  those  of  the  other  States ;   and 
as   all   these   provisions    apply  as  well  to  the  recently 
emancipated,  at  the  moment  of  freedom,  as  to  any  other 


ITS   CONSEQUENCES,  ETC. 


203 


class  of  free  colored  persons  in  our  State,  your  committee 
Have  not  found  it  necessary  to  profess,  in  the  form  of 
resolutions,  a  purpose  to  accord  to  the  freedmen  rights 
guaranteed  them  by  the  laws  of  the  State  already  in  ex 
istence.  Such  resolutions,  in  the  opinion  of  your  com 
mittee,  would  do  injustice  to  the  humane  system  of  laws 
referred  to,  which  has  so  long  adorned  our  statute  books, 
and  sufficiently  indicates  the  sentiments  of  our  people, 
and  would  at  the  same  time  convey  to  the  world  im 
pressions  unfavorable  to  ourselves  and  inconsistent  with 
those  just  claims  to  peculiar  consideration,  at  this  time, 
which  the  laws  of  Louisiana  in  this  respect  entitle  her  to. 
In  conclusion,  your  committee  would  respectfully  recom 
mend  that  a  copy  of  this  report  be  furnished  to  the  House 
of  Representatives.  All  of  which  is  respectfully  sub 
mitted.  M.  A.  FOUTE, 

Chairman  Committee  on  Federal  Relations. 

• 

JOINT    RESOLUTIONS    RELATIVE   TO    FEDERAL    RELATIONS. 

WHEREAS,  It  is  eminently  proper  and  due  to  our  con 
stituents  and  the  Government,  that  this  representative 
body,  fresh  from  the  people  of  the  whole  State,  the  first 
that  has  assembled  in  Louisiana  since  the  surrender, 
should  give  a  public  and  unmistakable  expression  of  sen 
timent  with  regard  to  the  "situation,"  therefore 

1.  Be  it  resolved  by  the  /Senate  and  House  of  Represen 
tatives  of  the  State  of  Louisiana  in  General  Assembly 
convened,  That  there  is  no  spirit  of  resistance  to  Federal 
authority  among  the  people  of  Louisiana ;  that  they 


204  THE  REBELLION: 

frankly  avowed  their  purposes  and  objects  in  the  late 
struggle  for  separate  government,  and  having  failed  in 
that,  they  now  with  equal  frankness  accept  as  an  inevita 
ble  result  the  present  situation,  including  the  abolition 
of  slavery,  the  re- establishment  of  which  they  do  not 
expect. 

2.  Be,  it  further  resolved,  etc.,  That  in  the  expression 
that   "the  Southern  people  must  be  trusted,'7  President 
Johnson  exhibited  a  thorough  acquaintance  with  Southern 
character  and  eminent  wisdom  and  statesmanship,  and 
that  it  is  our  firm  resolve  to  justify  this  confidence,  and 
to  sustain  the  President   in  his 'efforts  to  restore  these 
States  to  representation  in  Congress,  and  a  position  of 
political  equality  in  the  Union. 

3.  Be  it  further  resolved,  etc.,  That  the  people  of  Louis 
iana  are  unreserved  in  their  purpose  of  loyalty,  and  if 
permitted,  that  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
and  the  Union  of  the  States  thereunder,  do  they  look  for 
their  future  happiness  and  prosperity. 

(Signed)  DUNCAN  S.  CAGE, 

Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 
(Sigmed)  ALBERT  YOORHIES, 

Lieutenant  Governor  and  President  of  the  Senate. 
Approved  December  6,  1865. 

(Signed)  J.  MADISON  WELLS, 

Governor  of  Louisiana. 


NATIONAL    UNION    CONVENTION. 

A  National  Union  Convention,  of  at  least  two  dele- 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  205 

gates  from  each  congressional  district  of  all  the  States, 
two  from  each  Territory,  two  from  the  District  of  Colum 
bia,  and  four  delegates  at  large  from  each  State/  will  be 
held  at  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  on  the  second  Tuesday 
(14th)  of  August  next. 

Such  delegates  will  be  chosen  by  the  electors  of  the 
several  States,  who  sustain  the  Administration  in  maintain 
ing  unbroken  the  Union  of  the  States,  under  the  Constitu 
tion  which  our  fathers  established,  and  who  agree  in  the 
following  propositions,  viz : 

The  Union  of  the  States  is,  in  every  case,  indissoluble, 
and  is  perpetual;  and  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  and  the  laws  passed  by  Congress  in  pursuance 
thereof,  supreme,  and  constant,  and  universal  in  their 
obligation ; 

The  rights,  the  dignity  and  the  equality  of  the  States 
in  the  Union,  including  the  right  of  representation  in 
Congress,  are  solemnly  guaranteed  by  that  Constitution, 
to  save  which  from  overthrow  so  much  blood  and  treasure 
were  expended  in  the  late  civil  war  ; 

There  is  no  right,  anywhere,  to  dissolve  the  Union,  or 
to  separate  States  from  the  Union,  either  by  voluntary 
withdrawal,  by  force  of  arms,  or  by  congressional  action  ; 
neither  by  the  secession  of  the  States,  nor  by  the  exclu 
sion  of  their  loyal  and  qualified  representatives,  nor  by 
the  National  Government  in  any  other  form ; 

Slavery  is  abolished,  and  neither  can,  nor  ought  to  be, 


206  THE  REBELLION: 

re-established  in  any  State  or  Territory  within  our  juris 
diction  ; 

Each  State  has  the  undoubted  right  to  prescribe  the 
qualifications  of  its  own  electors,  and  no  external  power 
rightfully  can,  or  ought  to  dictate,  control,  or  influence 
the  free  and  voluntary  action  of  the  States  in  the  exercise 
of  that  right ; 

The  maintenance  inviolate  of  the  rights  of  the  States, 
and  especially  of  the  right  of  each  State  to  order  and 
control  its  own  domestic  concerns,  according  to  its  own 
judgment  exclusively,  subject  only  to  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States,  is  essential  to  that  balance  of  power 
on  which  the  perfection  and  endurance  of  our  political 
fabric  depend,  and  the  overthrow  of  that  system  by  the 
usurpation  and  centralization  of  power  in  Congress  would 
be  a  revolution,  dangerous  to  republican  government  and 
destructive  of  liberty ; 

Each  House  of  Congress  is  made,  by  the  Constitution, 
the  sole  judge  of  the  elections,  returns,  and  qualifications 
of  its  members ;  but  the  exclusion  of  loyal  Senators  and 
Representatives,  properly  chosen  and  qualified,  under  the 
Constitution  and  laws,  is  unjust  and  revolutionary ; 

Every  patriot  should  frown  upon  all  those  acts  and 
proceedings,  everywhere,  which  can  serve  no  other  pur 
pose  than  to  rekindle  the  animosities  of  war,  and  the 
effect  of  which  upon  our  moral,  social  and  material  in 
terests  at  home,  and  our  standing  abroad,  differing  only 
in  degree,  is  injurious  like  war  itself; 

The  purpose  of  the  war  having  been  to  preserve  the 


ITS   CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  207 

Union  and  the  Constitution  by  putting  down  the  rebel 
lion,    and   the    rebellion    having    been    suppressed — all 
resistance  to  the  authority  of  the  General  Government 
being   at   an    end,    and   the    war    having    ceased — war 
measures  should  also  cease,  and  should  be  followed  by 
measures  of  peaceful  administration,'  so  that  union,  har 
mony  and  concord   may  be   encouraged,   and    industry, 
commerce,  and  the  arts  of.  peace  revived  and  promoted  ; 
and  the  early  restoration  of  all  the  States  to  the  exercise 
of  their  constitutional  powers  in  the  National  Government 
is   indispensably  necessary  to  the  strength   and   defence 
of  the  Republic,  and  to  the  maintenance  of  the  public 
credit ; 

All  such  electors  in  the  thirty-six  States  and  nine 
Territories  of  the  United  States,  and  in  the  District  of 
Columbia,  who  in  a  spirit  of  patriotism  and  love  for  the 
Union,  can  rise  above  personal  and  sectional  considera 
tions,  and  who  desire  to  see  a  truly  National  Union 
Convention,  which  shall  represent  all  the  States  and 
Territories  of  the  Union,  assemble,  as  friends  and  brothers, 
under  the  national  flag,  to  hold  counsel  together  upon 
the  state  of  the  Union,  and  to  take  measures  to  avert 
possible  danger  from  the  same,  are  specially  requested  to 
take  part  in  the  choice  of  such  delegates. 

But  no  delegate  will  take  a  seat  in  such  Convention 
who  does  not  loyally  accept  the  national  situation  and 
cordially  endorse  the  principles  above  set  forth,  and  who 


208  THE  REBELLION: 

is  not  attached,  in  true  allegiance,  to  the  Constitution, 
the  Union,  and  the  Government  of  the  United  States. 
Washington,  June  25,  1866. 

A.  W.  RANDALL,  Pres't. 
J.  R.  DOOLITTLE, 
0.  H.  BROWNING, 
EDGAR  COWAN, 
'CHARLES  KNAP, 
SAMUEL  FOWLER, 
Executive  Committee  National  Union  Club. 

We  recommend  the  holding  of  the  above  Convention, 

and  endorse  the  call  therefor. 

DANIEL  S.  NORTON, 
J.  W.  NESMITH, 
JAMES  DIXON, 
D.  A.  HENDRICKS. 


HEADQUARTERS  NATIONAL  UNION  CLUB,          ) 
490  TWELFTH  ST.,  WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  June  25,  1866.  ) 

Sir — Preceding  this  you  will  find  a  "call"  for  a 
National  Union  Convention,  issued  by  the  National 
Union  Club  of  this  city,  representing  all  the  States  in  the 
Union. 

If  this  call  meets  your  approbation,  you  will  be  good 
enough  to  signify  it  by  a  brief  letter,  with  authority  to 
publish  the  same.  Yery  respectfully,  etc., 

A.  W.  RANDALL,  President. 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  209' 

[For  Publication.] 

*  NEW  ORLEANS,  July  4,  1866. 

A,  W.  Randall,  Esq.,  President 

National  Union  Club,  Washington: 
SIR  :  I  have  had  the  honor  to  receive  your  letter  of  the 
25th  ult.,  with  the  accompanying  documents.  Approving 
of  them,  I  have  caused  them  to  be  published,  confident 
that  my  constituents  will  send  delegates  to  the  Philadel 
phia  Convention,  they  being,  so  far  as  I  am  informed, 
unanimously  in  favor  of  President  Johnson's  reconstruc 
tion  policy,  with  a  firm  reliance  that  the  ballot-box  will 
restore  to  the  agricultural,  commercial,  manufacturing  and 
mechanical  interests  of  the  country  their  wonted  prosperity, 
which  is  now  very  much  depressed  by  unwise  legislation, 
I  have  the  honor  to  subscribe  myself, 

Yery  respectfully  your  obd't  servrtr 

JACOB  BARKER, 


THE   TAMMANY   HALL   PLATFORM, 

Tammany  Society  has  issued  an  invitation  to  promi 
nent  Democrats  of  the  country,  containing  the  platform 
of  Tammany  Hall  on  the  great  issues  of  the  dayr  and 
asking  them  to  participate  in  celebrating  the  coming 
Fourth  of  July.  It  sets  forth  that  the  exclusion  of  eleven 
States  from  participation  in  Congress,  is  not  less  treason  - 
able,  morally,  when  effected  by  partizan  votes,  than  when 
attempted  by  rebellious  resort  to  arms,  and  invites  to  co 
operate  those  who  believe  that  the  Union  was  intended 
to  be  perpetual,  and  that  the  States  are  equal  under  the 
Constitution,  and  that  the  restoration  of  the  Union  by 
14 


1  210  THE  REBELLION: 

the  recent  war  ought  to  be  acknowledged  and  recognized 
by  all  departments ,  of  the  Federal  Government,  that  a 
spirit  of  fraternity  and  magnanimity  should  prevail  in  all 
our  councils  and  our  policy,  and  that  the  South  having 
accepted  lessons  from  us,  and  relinquished  the  heresies  of 
secession,  should  be  entitled  to  immediate  representation. 


[From  the  National  Advocate  of  the  15th  of  December,  1862.J 

SECESSION. 

Our  people  are  now  feeling  the  effects  of  this  rash  and 
inconsiderate  measure,  and  however  unpalatable  it  may 
be  to  its  advocates,  it  is  proper  that  an  impartial  view  of 
the  subject  should  be  kept  before  the  public.  This  is  our 
intention,  regardless  of  our  popularity,  in  the  hope  that 
it  will  soon  soften  the  asperity  of  -both  sides,  and  by  pos 
sibility  dispose  all  for  peace. 

The  great  Father  of  the  Universe  has  not  blessed  man 
with  any  other  discriminating  power  than  that  of  com 
parison.  •  We  have,  therefore,  to  compare  our  present 
condition  and  prospects  for  the  future  with  what  they 
were  before  the  public  mind  was  seriously  agitated  with 
the  idea  of  secession;  also  to  inquire  into  the  causes 
which  led  to  its  adoption,  the  remedies  for  the  evils  on 
our  hands,  the  arguments  used  to  induce  the  people  to 
acquiesce  in  and  to  support  the  measure,  and  finally, 
where  and  how  a  remedy  is  to  be  found. 

The  last  proposition  is  easily  solved.  Let  all  endeavor 
to  cultivate  kindness  towards  each  other,  confiding  in  the 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  211 

ballot-box  as  the  most  safe,  reliable,  and  least  expensive 
remedy  that  can  be  found ;  both  of  which  have  been 
lamentably  overlooked  or  neglected  in  Louisiana. 

So  far  as  we  were  personally  concerned,  we  heartily 
rejoice  at  the  result  of  the  late  election.  So  far  as  the 
public  are  concerned,  we  have  to  wait  and  see  how  far 
the  question  of  Southern  institutions  will  be  sustained  by 
our  representatives.  That  should  be  the  controlling 
question  in  all  our  actions ;  that  is  the  heart  of  our  body 
politic,  and  should  be  guarded  as  we  would  guard  the 
apple  of  our  eye. 

We  had  a  government  that  none  felt — so  gently  were 
we  governed  that  no  one  knew  we  had  a  government. 
The  great  question  seemed  to  be  with  the  politicians  on 
all  sides,  who  should  have  the  offices,  how  the  spoils 
should  be  divided. 

A  few  slaves  absconded  from  the  border  States,  fleeing 
into  the  free  States,  where  they  found  protection,  and 
some  of  the  States  passed  laws  in  violation  of  the  Con 
stitution,  not  only  protecting  such  runaways,  but  en 
couraging  others  to  follow  their  example. 

Such  outrages  called  for  prompt  and  efficient  measures 
to  check  further  infractions  of  our  constitutional  rights. 
Our  fathers  provided  a  remedy  in  the  Constitution :  free 
discussion,  free  speech  and  the  ballot-box,  with  a  pro 
vision  for  amending  that  instrument  when  its  operation 
should  fail  to  perform  all  the  offices  intended.  It  having 
failed,  by  allowing  a  minority  President  to  be  elected, 
the  first  measure  to  have  been  adopted  was  an  amend- 


212  THE  REBELLION: 

ment  requiring  a  majority  of  all  the  votes  cast  to  consti 
tute  an  election,  and  in  case  of  a  failure,  for  the  President 
of  the  Senate  or  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representa 
tives  to  fill  the  office  until  another  election  could  be  had 
giving  a  candidate  the  required  majority,  giving  the 
election  to  the  people  direct,  without  the  intervention  of 
electors  or  State  authorities,  extending  the  period  to  six 
or  ten  years,  no  citizen  to  be  eligible  for  a  second  term ; 
a  board  of  commissioners  to  be  established  at  Washing 
ton  to  award  damages  for  all  absconding  slaves  not 

restored,  to  be  paid  out  of  the  U.  S.  Treasury. 

4 

Our  fellow-citizens  at  the  North  took  the  matter  in 
hand  and  elected  a  sufficient  number  of  new  members 
not  only  to  extinguish  the  thirty  majority  the  Abolition 
party  had  in  Congress  under  Mr.  Buchanan,  but  to  give 
the  Democratic  party  coming  into  power  with  Mr. 
Lincoln  (the  Southern  members  retaining  their  seats)  a 
majority  in  the  House  of  Representatives  of  seven.  With 
this  majority  they  could  have  refused  supplies  until 
justice  had  been  obtained ;  the  Abolitionists  would  have 
been  brought  to  terms  in  a  very  short  period.  Without 
supplies  an  army  could  not  have  been  formed  or  a  navy 
equipped;  consequently  there  could  not  have  been  any 
blockade  or  war. 

Refusing  supplies  was  considered,  truly  considered,  a 
harsh,  high-handed  measure,  but  not  so  much  so  as  war. 
Look  at  the  loss  of  human  life  by  sickness  incident  to  the 
camp  and  to  battle.  Look  at  the  loss  of  commerce  and 
the  loss  of  employment  which  constitutes  the  indepen- 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  213 

dencc  of  man,  allowing  each  to  earn  his  own  livelihood 
by  the  sweat  of  his  brow,  in  place  of  being  dependent, 
as  too  many  now  are,  on  others  for  the  daily  bread  of 
themselves  and  families.  Look  at  the  appetite  infused 
into  the  rising  generation  for  military  life.  Look  at  the 
destitution  of  a  million  of  men,  without  employment  or 
the  means  of  subsistence  when  peace  shall  be  restored. 
Look  at  the  derangement  of  business,  the  destruction  of 
property  and  the  frightful  amount  of  debt  arising  from 
this  unnatural  and  ruinous  war,  and  compare  our  present 
condition  and  future  prospects  with  the  evils  that  could 
possibty  have  resulted  from  refusing  supplies.  This  will 
enable  the  reader  to  decide  which  would  have  been 
preferable,  secession  or  the  refusal  of  supplies. 

President  Lincoln  could  not  have  got  a  dinner  without 
Democratic  votes,  nor  could  an  office  have  been  filled 
by  an  individual  not  approved  by  them,  had  our  Southern 
members  retained  their  seats.  By  resigning  they  threw 
away  the  game,  which  we  held  in  our  own  hands. 

South  Carolina  and  Mississippi  were  bent  on  secession, 
and  designing  politicians  availed  of  the  aforesaid  injustice 
of  the  Abolitionists  to  induce  their  people  to  pass  ordi 
nances  of  secession.  Other  slave  States  reluctantly 
joined  them,  because  they  considered  it  would  be  ruinous 
to  the  institution  of  the  South  for  them  not  to  hang  to 
gether.  These  political  leaders,  these  short-sighted 
mortals,  vainly  supposed  the  want  of  employment,  for 
the  want  of  cotton,  in  the  Northern  States,  in  England 
and  in  France,  would  produce  such  riots  as  would  compel 


214  THE  REBELLION: 

the  North  to  yield  to  their  requirements  and  foreign 
powers  to  interfere  to  force  a  compliance  on  the  part  of. 
the  North.  Not  one  of  such  results  has  been  realized. 
We  told  them  that  the  effects  of  a  short  supply  of  cotton 
would  be  to  cause  foreigners  to  redouble  their  exertions 
to  procure  it  elsewhere.  This  done,  and  the  war  over, 
the  cotton  growers  of  the  United  States  would  long  fee^ 
the  disastrous  effects  of  the  new  source  from  which  a 
supply  of  the  article  could  be  obtained ;  farther,  that  if 
foreigners  once  recognized  the  doctrine  that  King  Cotton 
is  supreme,  on  future  occasions  it  might  be  wielded 
against  them;  hence  they  could  not  be  expected  to 
acknowledge  that  it  was  such  an  omnipotent  power  even 
if  it  existed.  Again,  they  should  have  remembered  that 
each  nation  could  have  supported  their  hungry  popula 
tion  in  idleness  for  one-fourth  the  cost  of  a  war.  We 
often  expostulated  with  these  deluded  men.  Considering 
us  old,  too  old,  they  would  not  heed  our  admonition. 
They  imagined  that  we  were  behind  the  age  of  Young 
America. 

The  industry  and  prosperity  of  this  city  was  suspended 
by  the  anticipation  of  secession  many  months  before  the 
fatal  ordinance  was  passed ;  to  which  subject  we  called 
public  attention  at  a  large  meeting  held  at  Odd  Fellows' 
Hall,  suggesting  that  no  remuneration  therefor  could  in 
any  event  be  anticipated ;  that  the  anticipation  of  such  a 
calamity  had  inflicted  damage  to  the  amount  of  millions : 
that  there  would  be  no  limit  to  the  extent  of  our  suffer 
ing  if  the  reality  should  take  place. 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  215 

The  certain  consequences  of  secession  came,  and  we 
are  now  realizing  its  sad  effects.  What  did  its  advocates 
expect  to  gain? — a  new  contract  with  the  same  parties 
who  had  violated  the  original  contract?  We  would  ask 
what  better  security  would  this  have  afforded?  The 
expense  of  the  war  for  a  single  month  would  more  than 
have  paid  for  all  the  slaves  who  have  absconded  during 
our  existence  as  a  Nation. 


The  following  notice  and  receipt  establishes  that  the 
Freedmen's  Bureau  proceeded  to  enforce  Order  38  after 
the  promulgation  of  the  order  of  General  Fullerton  to 
be  found  on  page  196  : 

Bring  with  this  Notice  City  Tax  Receipts. 

353.  OFFICE  AGENT  B.  R.  F.  &  A.  L.      ) 

PARISHES  ORLEANS  AND  JEFFERSON,  L.  B.  J 

Office  Hours  9  to  3.]  (No.  211  JULIA.  STKEET.) 

NEW  ORLEANS,  February  13,  1866. 
Mr.  Thos.  H.  Barker — You  are  hereby  notified  to 
appear  at  this  office  immediately  and  deposit  the  tax 
levied  on  you  in  accordance  with  General  Orders  No.  38, 
Department  of  the  Gulf,  series  1864,  amounting  to 
$102  30,  in  default  of  which  seizure  and  sale  will  be 
made  to  the  amount  and  costs. 

[Notice  50  cents.]  JAMES  LEWIS, 

1st  Lt.  Y.  R.  C.  and  Agent  B.  R.  F.  and  A.  L. 

[Endorsement.] 

Paid  by  Mr.  Jacob  Barker,  Feb.  6,  1866! 

H.  C.  SEYMOUR,  Lieut.  81st  U.  S.  C.  I. 

Provost  Marshal. 


216  THE  REBELLION: 

[From  the   New  Orleans  Times.] 
•      MASTERLY    INACTIVITY. 

The  States  which  have  been  denied  representation  by 
the  so-called  Congress  are  now  coolly  asked  to  stultify 
themselves  by  ratifying  an  amendment  to  the  Constitu 
tion,  which  would  degrade  them  in  their  own  eyes  and 
before  the  world.  They  will,  however,  pause  before 
obeying  the  behest  of  the  radical  task-masters.  There  is 
no  force  in  the  decrees  of  the  Council  of  Fifteen  which 
can  make  either  men  or  States  sign  away  their  own 
birthright,  with  all  the  high  prerogatives  of  manhood  and 
citizenship,  at  the  bidding  of  the  sectional  tyrants  of  the 
hour.  With  honorable  alacrity  the  Southern  States 
accepted  the  binding  issues  of  the  war  as  soon  as  closed, 
but  the  more  eager  they  were  to  return  to  their  father's 
house  the  more  persistently  their  seats  were  denied  them. 
There  was  no  fatted  calf  killed  on  the  occasion — no  gen 
erous  tender  of  forgiveness.  The  olive  branch  held  up 
was  stained  with  gall,  and  the  enmity  of  war  was  con 
tinued  after  all  armed  opposition  to  the  Government  had 
ceased. 

Never  was  a  more  sublime  spetacle  presented  to  the 
world  than  that  exhibited  by  the  armies  of  the  Confed 
eracy  when  they  surrendered  in  good  faith  on  a  promise 
of  general  amnesty.  If  prompted  solely  by  enmity  and 
recklessness,  they  might  have  fought  on  for  months,  slay 
ing  and  being  slain ;  but  as  soon  as  it  became  apparent 
that  the  cause  in  which  they  had  been  engaged  could  not 
succeed,  they  laid  down  their  arms  forthwith,  detemined 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  21 7 

to  have  no  act  or  part  in  the  shedding  of  blood  not  sanc 
tified  by  what  to  them  seemed  an  honorable  purpose. 

In  Gen.  Lee's  act  of  surrender  there  was  more  true 
heroism  displayed  than  in  all  his.  battles.  There  was  a 
moral  grandeur  in  the  sight  which  shadowed  forth  the 
supremacy  of  high  intellect  and  moral  sentiment  over  the 
•baser  passions.  Conviction  controlled  resistance  and  laid 
the  foundations  of  what  might  have  towered  up  into  a 
sublime  temple  of  national  fraternity,  had  the  victors  not 
been  intoxicated  by  their  unexpected  success  and  clamor 
ous  for  vindictive  humiliations  and  for  spoils. 

At  first,  with  some,  repining  and  mental  protestations, 
the  Southern  States  complied  with  the  demands  made  by 
the  Executive  and  Legislative  departments  of  the  General 
Government.  With  singular  unanimity  they  ratified  an 
amendment  to  the  Constitution  by  which  African  slavery 
was  prohibited  in  the  States  of  the  Union  for  all  future 
time,  and  by  which  two  thousand  millions  of  dollars' 
worth  of  property,  guaranteed  by  an  express  provision  of 
the  old  Federal  organic  law,  was  lost  to  them  forever. 
But  this  was  not  regarded  as  enough.  The  demands  of 
the  dominant  sectional  party  were  akin  to  the  spleen  of 
the  green-eyed  monster  ''which  doth  mock  the  meat  it 
feeds  on.??  They  mocked  at  their  own  triumphs.  Every 
success  became  the  parent  of  a  dozen  new  demands,  till 
the  cautious  innovations  -which  the  sectional  legislators 
were  contented  with  at  first,  swelled  up  at  length  into 
bold,  unblushing  usurpations.  All  this  was  in  a  great 
measure  brought  about  by  the  nervous  anxiety  which  the 


218  THE  REBELLION: 

people  of  the  South  displayed  in  relation  to  the  Union 
and  the  Constitution — that  Union  which  they  found  it 
impossible  to  divide,  and  that  Constitution  which  they 
had  ineffectually  endeavored  to  overthrow.  Wishing  to 
be  restored  to  their  proper  places  in  the  unbroken  Union 
and  to  preserve  what  is  left  of  the  Constitution,  after  it 
had  been  amended  to  their  prejudice,  they  humbled 
themselves  before  the  accidental  masters  pf  the  situation ; 
but  their  humility  was  turned  into  contempt  and  their 
calamity  was  mocked  at.  "He  that  humbleth  himself 
shall  be  exalted,"  saith  the  Scripture,  but  they  humbled 
themselves  and  their  humility  was  made  an  excuse  for 
new  humiliations  and  impositions.  These  facts  have 
taught  the  South  bitter  yet  salutary  lessons.  She  has 
nothing  to  gain  from  humility ;  in  her  present  helpless 
condition  she  is  incapable  of  exercising  any  power  or 
authority  sufficient  to  right  her  wrongs ;  for  her  the  mag 
nanimity  of  the  dominant  party  has  proved  altogether 
unreliable.  She  must  now'  await  "the  sober  second 
thought"  of  the  great  American  people,  who  can  make 
and  unmake  rulers  at  a  breath,  and  while  waiting  in 
faith  and  hope,  her  true  political  policy  is  "masterly  in 
activity."  In  material  matters — in  commerce,  agriculture 
and  manufacturing  industry — our  people  may  be  as 
active  as  they  please ;  but  the  vexed  question  of  Federal 
politics,  let  them  be  sure  to  "make  haste  slowly*"  The 
madness  which  invariably  precedes  destruction  is  clearly 
exhibited  by  the  disorganizing  extremists  of  the  so-called 
Congress,  and  they  will  soon  be  pushed  from  their  stools 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  219 

by  the  ghosts  of  the  moral  Banquos  they  have  murdered. 
Having  failed  in  her  respectful  demands,  the  South 
should  now  try.  the  virtue  of  masterly  inactivity,  ratifying 
no  further  amendments  to  a  Constitution,  the  privileges 
of  which  are  persistently  denied  to  her  people. 


PRESIDENT'S   MESSAGE   ON   THE   PROPOSED  CONSTITUTIONAL 

. AMENDMENT. 

On  the  22d  of  June,  1866,   the  President  sent  in  to 
Congress  the  following  message  in  relation  to  the  recon 
struction  amendment  to  the  Constitution : 
To  the  Senate  and  Souse  of  Representatives  : 

I  submit  to  Congress  a  report  of  the  Secretary  of  State 
to  whom  was  referred  the  concurrent  resolution  of  the 
18th  inst.,  respecting  a  submission  to  the  Legislatures  of 
the  States  of  an  additional  article  to  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States.  It  will  be  seen  from  this  report  that 
the  Secretary  of  State  had  on  the  16th  transmitted  to  the 
Governors  of  the  several  States  certified  copies  of  the 
joint  resolution  passed  on  the  13th  proposing  an  amene- 
ment  to  the  Constitution.  Even  in  ordinary  times  any 
question  of  amending  the  Constitution  must  be  justly 
regarded  as  of  paramount  importance.  This  importance 
is  at  the  present  time  enhanced  by  tjie  fact  that  the  joint 
resolution  was  not  submitted  by  the  House  for  the  ap 
proval  of  the  President,  and  that  of  the  thirty-six  States 
which  constitute  the  Union,  eleven  are  excluded  from 
representation  in  either  House  of  Congress,  although, 


220 


THE  REBELLION: 


with  the  siilgle  exception  of  Texas,  they  have  been  en 
tirely  restored  to  all  their  functions  as  States  in  conformity 
with  the  organic  law  of  the  land,  and  have  appeared  at 
the  National  Capital  by  Senators,  and  ha>ve  been  refused 
admission  to  the  vacant  seats;  nor  have   the   sovereign 
people  of  the  nation  been  afforded  an  'opportunity  of  ex 
pressing  their  views  upon  the  important  question  which 
the  amendment  involves.      Grave  doubts  may  naturally 
and  justly  arise  whether  the  action  of  Congress  is  in  har 
mony  with  the  sentiments  of  the  people,  and  whether  to 
such   issue   they  should  be  called  upon  by  Congress  to 
decide.      Respecting   the   ratification   of    the    proposed 
amendment,  waiving  the  question  as  to  the  constitutional 
validity  of  the  proceedings  of  Congress  upon  the  joint 
resolution  proposing  the  amendment,  or  as  to  the  merits 
of  the   article  which  it  submits  through  the  Executive 
Department  to  the  Legislatures  of  the  States,  I  deem  it 
proper  to  observe  that  the  steps  taken  by  the  Secretary 
of  State,  as  detailed  in  the   accompanying  report,  are  to 
be   considered   as   purely   ministerial,  and  in   no  sense 
whatever  committing  the  Executive  to  an  approval  or 
recommendation  of  the  amendment  to  the  State  Legisla 
tures  or  to  the  people.     On  the  contrary,  a  proper  appre 
ciation  of  the  letter  and  spirit  of  the   Constitution,  as 
well  as  of  the  interests  of  national  order  and  harmony 
and  union,  and  a  due* deference  for  an  enlightened  public 
judgment,  may  at  this  time  well  suggest  a  doubt  whether 
any  amendment  to  the  Constitution  ought  to  be  proposed 
by  Congress,  and  pressed  upon  the  legislatures  of  the 


ITS   CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  221 

several  States  for  final  decision,  until  after  the  admission 
of  such  loyal  Senators  and  Representatives  of  the  un 
represented  States  as  have  been,  or  may  hereafter  be 
chosen,  in  conformity  with  the   Constitution  and  laws  of 
the  United  States. 

(Signed)  ANDREW  JOHNSON. 

Washington,  D.  C.,  June  22,  1866. 


The  compiler  of  this  book,  in  referring  to  the  Conven 
tion  of  Louisiana  which  passed  the  Secession  Ordinance, 
unintentionally  omitted  the  name  of  our  distinguished 
fellow-citizen  Christian  Roselius,  Esq.,  the  eminent  jurist, 
who  lifted  up  his  voice  against  that  fatal  measure.  In 
order  to  make  amends  for  the  omission,  we  give  in  full 
his  address  as  President  of  the  Union  Association,  which 
was  read  on  the  7th  July,  1866,  before  the  Union  and 
Johnson  Clubs,  adopted  and  ordered  to  be  published  : 

ADDRESS. 

bellow -Citizens — At  a  time  when  the  great  charter  of 
American  liberty  appears  in  imminent  danger ;  when  the 
spirit  of  disorganization  and  anarchy  is  rife  in  the  land, 
and  threatening  to  undermine  the  foundation  of  this 
magnificent  fabric,  devised  by  the  wisdom  and  cemented 
by  the  blood  of  the  fathers  of  the  Republic ;  when  dema 
gogues  and  politicians  are  openly  assailing  the  sacred 
rights  which  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  has 
secured  to  every  citizen ;  it  becomes  the  imperative  duty 
of  the  people  of  the  United  States  to  come  to  the  rescue  j 


222  THE  REBELLION: 

to  defend  and  vindicate  those  rights  by  every  legal  means 
in  their  power.  To  do  this  effectually,  all  mere  party 
connections  ought  to  be  disregarded ;  the  preservation 
and  perpetuation  of  the  constitutional  Union  alone  should 
become  the  parameunt  object  of  the  unceasing  and  united 
efforts  of  all. 

It  is  for  this  purpose  that  the  association  called  "the 
Constitutional  Union  Association"  has  been  formed. 

The  sole  -end  which  it  seeks  to  accomplish  is  to  pre 
serve  the  Constitution  in  its  integrity,  and  the  only 
influence  which  it  will  attempt  to  exercise  will  be  in 
opposition  to  constitutional  encroachments,  come  from 
what  quarter  they  may. 

We  address  ourselves  to  the  ardent  patriotism  and 
sober  judgment  of  our  fellow-citizens,  to  enlist  them  in 
this  great  cause  by  which  alone  the  Republic  can  be  saved 
from  impending  danger. 

The  people  of  the  United  States  recognize  no  majesty 
or  power,  except  the  majesty  and  power  of  the  Constitu 
tion  and  laws. 

All  public  officers  are  but  ministers  of  the  law  and 
servants  of  the  people.  When  any  power  is  exercised  in 
time  of  peace,  which  is  not  warranted  by  law,  it  is 
usurpation.  Laws  are  supreme  and  subordinate,  and 
whenever  the  latter  conflict  with  the  former  they  are 
utterly  null  and  void,  and  it  follows,  as  a  matter  of 
course,  that  the  citizen  is  bound  to  disobey  them. 

In  the  clear  and  forcible  language  of  Mr.  Justice 
Patterson:  "A  constitution  is  the  form  of  government 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  223 

delineated  by  the  mighty  hand  of  the  people,  and  is  the 
supreme  law  of  the  land ;  it  is  paramount  to  the  law  of 
the  Legislature,  and  can  be  revoked  or  altered  only  by 
the  power  that  made  it. 

"The  Constitution  is  the  work  or  will  of  the  people 
themselves  in  their  original,  sovereign  and  unlimited 
capacity.  Law  is  the  work  or  will  of  the  Legislature,  in 
its  derivative  and  subordinate  capacity. 

"The  Constitution  fixes  limits  to  the  exercise  of  legis 
lative  authority,  and  prescribes  the  orbit  in  which  it  must 
move.  In  short,  the  Constitution  is  the  sun  of  the 
political  system,  around  which  legislative,  executive  and 
judicial  bodies  revolve." 

The  people  of  the  United  States  have  delegated  their 
powers  and  attributes  of  sovereignty  to  two  distinct  gov 
ernments,  viz :  Federal  and  State  governments. 

The  respective  powers  of  each  are  established  and 
limited  by  constitutions  emanating  equally  from  the  only 
legitimate  source  of  all  power. 

The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  was  ordained 
and  established  not  by  the  States  in  their  sovereign 
capacities,  but  emphatically  as  the  preamble  declares, 
"by  the  people  of  the  United  States ;"  or,  in  the  language 
of  Chief  Justice  Marshall,  in  McCulloch  vs.  the  State  of 
Maryland,  "the  government  of  the  Union  is  emphatically 
and  truly  a  government  of  the  people  in  form  and  sub 
stance,  and  it  emanates  from  them.  Its  powers  are 
granted  by  them,  and  are  to  be  exercised  directly  on 
them  and  for  their  benefit.  This  government  is  acknowl- 


224  THE  REBELLION: 

edged  by  all  to  be  one  of  enumerated  powers ;  though 
limited,  it  is  supreme  within  its  sphere  of  action.  It  is 
the  government  of  all,  with  powers  delegated  by  all,  it 
represents  all  and  acts  for  all." 

Power  incident  to  the  nature  of  the  specified  powers  is 
necessarily  vested  in  the  General  Government.  This 
constitutes  the  implied  power  necessary  to  carry  the 
express  powers  into  execution.  All  other  power  not 
delegated  by  the  people  to  the  Government  of  the  United 
States,  is  reserved  to  the  States  respectively,  and  with 
regard  to  these,  the  sovereignty  of  the  States  is  absolute. 
A  difference  of  opinion  upon  this  subject,  connected  with 
local  interests,  culminated  in  civil  war,  which  the  Gov 
ernment  of  the  United  States  was  forced  to  carry  on  for 
the  maintenance  of  the  integrity  of  the  Union. 

The  war  being  ended,  and  the  great  object  for  which  it 
was  waged,  attained,  we  consider  it  of  the  utmost  im 
portance  for  the  final  settlement  of  our  unfortunate 
domestic  difficulties,  that  the  disturbing  element  of 
sectional  and  party  views  and  prejudices,  should  not  be 
permitted  to  exercise  its  baneful  influence  by  preventing 
that  harmony  of  feeling  as  citizens  of  a  common  country, 
which  is  the  very  corner  stone  on  which  our  free  govern 
ment  rests. 

Can  this  end  be  attained  by  pursuing  a  course  of  policy 
evidently  dictated  by  party  prejudice,  and  in  open  op 
position  to  the  plainest  principles  of  justice  ? 

When,  for  example,  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  was  to  be  amended,  the  Southern  States  were 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  225 

consulted,  and  their  votes  counted  for  the  purpose  of 
adopting  the  amendment;  then,  no  one  questioned  their 
status. 

But  when  the  people  of  these  same  States  sent  their 
Senators  and  Representatives,  duly  elected,  the  doors  of 
Congress  were  closed  to  them,  on  the  pretext  that  they 
are  out  of  the  Union. 

The  Constitution  declares  that  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  is  a  unit,  composed  of  the  people  of  all  the 
States,  and  that  the  people  of  each  State  shall  be  entitled 
to  an  equal  representation  in  the  Senate,  and  to  the  same 
ratio  of  representation  in  the  House  of  Representatives. 

The  great  boast  of  the  American  people  is,  that  their 
form  of  government  is  the  most  perfect  in  theory  and 
practical  operation  ever  framed.  The  history  of  the 
world  furnishes  no  parallel  to  the  United  States  in  growth 
of  population,  wealth  or  power ;  no  example  of  such 
rapid  and  astounding  development  of  inexhaustible  re 
sources. 

The  source  of  all  this  prosperity  and  greatness  is  a 
profound  reverence  for,  and  implicit  obedience  to,  the 
Constitution  and  laws  of  the  country.  When  this  cardinal 
principle  of  our  political  conduct  was  abandoned,  and  the 
destructive  rule  of  the  sword  substituted  for  the  benign 
and  protecting  control  of  law  and  justice,  the  charm  was 
broken,  and  the  dreadful  ravages  of  civil  war,  with  its 
concomitant  suffering,  was  the  consequence,  Tho  bless- 
ings  of  peace  are  now  once  more  restored  to  the  country, 
and  the  empire  of  law  and  order  was  naturally  antici- 


THE   REBELLION: 

pated.      But  in  this  fond  hope  we  have  thus  far  been 
sadly  disappointed. 

By  the  action  of  Congress  eleven  States  are  deprived 
of  any  representation.  No  one  can  dispute  the  exclusive 
right  of  each  branch  of  the  Legislature  to  judge  of  the 
qualifications,  elections,  etc.,  of  its  members ;  but  in  the 
decision  of  these  questions,  these  bodies  act  in  a  judicial 
character,  and  are  not  allowed  to  travel  out  of  the  record 
for  the  purpose  of  disfranchising  States,  by  excluding 
them  from  representation.  Such  a  power  of  destruction 
has  never  been  delegated  to  them — its  assumption  is 
mere  arbitrary  usurpation. 

A  general  distrust  of  the  consequences  of  this  course 
has  seized  the  public  mind,  and  a  universal  alarm  is 
spreading  among  all  classes  of  the  community. 

The  experience  of  the  last  four  years  causes  them  to 
be  apprehensive  of  calamity,  which  they  most  ardently 
desire  to  avert.  In  our  opinion,  it  can  be  done  by  the 
force  of  public  sentiment,  forcibly  and  energetically  ex 
pressed. 

The  Constitution  is  our  platform,  upon  which  Andrew 
Johnson,  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  the  United  States,  has 
placed  himself. 

It  is  our  duty  to  uphold  the  Constitution,  and,  with  it, 
the  President ;  and  we  call  upon  all  having  faith  in  our 
glorious  institutions,  to  step  forward  and  show,  by  their 
acts,  as  well  as  words,  their  repugnance  to  the  mutilation 
of  the  Constitution,  the  ground  work  of  our  institutions. 

C.  KOSELIUS, 
President  National  Union  Association. 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  227 

LETTER  FROM  SECRETARY  WELLES. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  July  11,  1866. 

Sir:  Your  note  of  the  10th.  inst.  was  received  yester 
day.  I  cordially  approve  the  movement  which  has  been 
instituted  to  ' '  sustain  the  Administration  in  maintaining 
unbroken  the  Union  of  the  States,"  and  I  recognize  in 
the  call  which  you  have  sent  me  the  principles  and  views 
by  which  the  Administration  has  been  governed. 

The  attempt  made  to  destroy  the  national  integrity  by 
secession,  or  the  voluntary  withdrawal  of  a  State  from 
the  Union  haa  been  defeated.  JVar  has  forever  extin 
guished  the  heresy  of  secession.  On  the  suppression  of 
the  rebellion  measures  were  promptly  commenced  to  re 
establish  those  fraternal  relations  which  for  four  years 
had  been  interrupted. 

The  policy  initiated  by  President  Lincoln  to  restore 
national  unity  was  adopted  and  carried  forward  by  Presi 
dent  Johnson  ;  the  States  which  had  been  in  rebellion 
were,  under  this  benign  policy,  resuming  their  legitimate 
functions ;  the  people  had  laid  down  their  arms,  and  those 
who  had  been  in  insurrection  were  returning  to  their  al 
legiance  ;  the  Constitution  had  been  vindicated  and  the 
Union  was  supposed  to  be  restored,  when  a  check  was 
put  upon  the  progress  to  national  harmony  and  prosperity 
thus  dawning  upon  the  country.  On  the  assembling  of 
Congress  all  efforts  towards  union  and  nationality  became 
suddenly  paralyzed  ;  the  measures  of  reconciliation  which 
the  President  had,  from  the  time  he  entered  upon  his 
duties,  pursued  with  eminent  success,  were  assailed,  and 


228  THE  REBELLION: 

their  beneficent  purpose,  to  a  great  extent,  defeated  ;  at 
tempts  were  made  to  impose  conditions  precedent  upon 
States  before  permitting  them  to  exercise  their  constitu 
tional  rights  ;  loyal  Senators  and  Representatives  from 
the  States  which  had  been  in  rebellion  were  refused  ad 
mittance  into  Congress — the  people  were  denied  rightful 
constitutional  representation — and  even  States  were  and 
are  excluded  from  all  participation  in  the  Government. 
These  proceedings,  which  conflict  with  the  fundamental 
principles  on  which  our  whole  governmental  system  is 
founded,  are  generating  and  consolidating  sectional  ani 
mosity,  and,  if  long  persisted  in,  must  eventuate  in  per 
manent  alienation.  I  rejoice,  therefore,  in  a  movement 
which  has  for  its  object  the  union  in  one  bond  of  love  of 
our  country,  and  which  invites  to  counsel  and  to  political 
action  the  citizens  of  every  State  and  Territory,  from  the 
Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  and  from  the  Lakes  to  the  Gulf; 
The  centralizing  theory  that  the  loyal  and  qualified  Sena 
tors  and  Representatives  from  eleven  States  shall  be  ex* 
eluded  from  Congress,  and  that  those  States  and  the  people 
of  those  States  shall  not  participate  in  the  Government,  is 
scarcely  less  repugnant  than  that  of  secession  itself. 

Propositions  to  change  the  Constitution  and  unsettle 
some  of  the  foundation  principles  of  our  organic  law — to 
change  our  judicial  system  in  such  a  manner  as  to  destroy 
the  independence  of  the  States  by  insiduously  transferring 
to  the  Federal  tribunals  all  questions  relating  to  the  "life, 
liberty  and  property  of  the  citizen  " — to  change  the  basis 
of  representation,  which  was  one  of  the  difficult  and  deli- 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC*  229 

cate  compromises  of  the  convention  of  1787,  when  no 
States  were  excluded  from  representation — to  change  the 
existing  and  wisely  adjusted  distribution  of  powers  be 
tween  the  different  departments  of  the  Government,  by 
transferring  the  pardoning  power  in  certain  cases  from  the 
executive,  where  it  properly  belongs,  to  Congress  or  the 
legislative  branch  of  the  Government,  to  which  it  does 
not  legitimately  pertain — to  incorporate  into  our  Consti 
tution,  which  is  to  stand  through  all  time,  a  proscription 
of  citizens  who  have  erred,  and  who  are  liable  to  penal 
ties  under  existing  enactments,  by  disqualifications,  par 
taking  of  the  nature  of  ex  post  facto  laws  and  bills  of  at 
tainder — these  propositions  or  changes,  aggregated  as  one 
and  called  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution,  designed  to 
operate  on  the  people  and  States  which  are  denied  all 
representation  or  voice  in  the  Congress  which  originates 
them,  are  of  a  radical,  if  not  revolutionary  character. 

These  and  other  proceedings,  and  the  political  crisis 
which  they  have  tended  to  produce,  justify  and  demand 
a  convocation  of  the  people  by  delegates  from  all  the 
States  and  from  the  whole  country. 

The  President  has  labored  with  devoted  assiduity  and 
fidelity  to  promote  union,  harmony,  prosperity,  and  hap 
piness  among  the  States  and  people,  but  has  met  with 
resistence,  misrepresentation,  and  calumny  where  he  had 
a  right  to  expect  co-operation  and  friendly  support.  That 
the  great  body  of  our  countrymen  are  earnestly  and  cordi 
ally  with  him  in  his  efforts  to  promote  the  national  welfare. 
I  have  never  doubted,  notwithstanding  the  hostility  of 


230  THE  REBELLION: 

malevolent  partisans,  stimulated  by  perverted  party  organ 
izations  ;  and  I  rejoice  that  the  convention  which  shall 
represent  all  true  Union  men  of  our  whole  country  has 
been  called  to  sustain  him. 

Very  respectfully, 

GIDEON  WELLES, 
Hon.  J.  R.  Doolittle,  Washington,  D.  C. 


CONCLUSION. 

The  object  of  this  publication  is  to  exhibit  Mr.  Barker's 
uniform  devotion  to  the  Union,  his  reliance  on  com 
mercial  restrictions  to  redress  wrongs,  in  preference  to 
war.  He  has  not  any  new  opinions  to  put  forth — those 
of  others  embraced  in  this  book  are  promulgated  for 
reason  that  they  are  in  furtherance  of  the  great  princi 
ples  for  which  he  has  always  contended.  An  original 
and  consistent  Democrat,  and  consequently  politically 
opposed  to  the  Abolition  party  in  power  at  Washington, 
his  reliance  is  on  the  ballot-box,  and  the  watchword  at 
the  coming  election  should  be,  "no  taxation  without 
representation."  He  protests  against  "  reconstruction, " 
demanding  recognition  as  one  of  the  States  of  this  glo 
rious  Union. 

The  perusal  of  this  book  will  convince  the  reader  that 
Mr.  Barker,  from  childhood,  has  been  a  friend  of  the 
colored  race ;  that  he  considers  their  emancipation  the 


ITS  CONSEQUENCES,  ETC.  231 

removal  of  a  blemish  from  our  national  escutcheon ;  that 
he  would  not  have  slavery  restored  if  he  could ;  that  he 
totally  disapproved  of  the  manner  it  was  brought  about ; 
that  it  could  have  been  effected  by  purchase  at  half  the 
cost  of  the  war ;  that  the  battle  should  have  been  fought 
in  Congress,  and  not  at  the  cannon's  mouth.  The  reader 
will  also  be  convinced  that  the  National  Advocate  was  a 
loyal  paper,  and  that  its  suspension  was  an  infringement 
of  the  freedom  of  the  press,  which  every  freeman  is 
bound  to  defend. 

INVESTIGATOR. 


YC  51395 


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